Supreme Court orders the Sri Lanka Medical Council to register 82 SAITM medical degree holders

Colombo (News 1st): Supreme Court ordered the Sri Lanka Medical Council to register 82 SAITM graduates in order to facilitate them to practice medicine. The order was handed down after examining a petition filed by 3 graduates of the Malabe SAITM private medical college. The petition was examined by the bench comprising Supreme Court Justices, Buwaneka Aluvihare, L.T.B. Dehideniya, and P. Padman Surasena. Accordingly, the Supreme Court ordered the SLMC to register the students within a period of 3 weeks. The Court of Appeal in 2016, considering a petition filed by SAITM medical graduate Kasunda Suriyarachchi delivered a verdict that the SAITM students be registered under the SLMC. The Sri Lanka Medical Council appealed the decision at the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court held the initial verdict of the Court of Appeal. The students had once again submitted a petition before the Supreme Court that they had not been registered under the SLMC despite the court order. The Supreme Court delivered its verdict today regarding this petition and ordered that the legal fees of Rs. 200,000 each be paid to the 3 petitioners. The Supreme Court further said SLMC had violated fundamental rights of the SAITM medical graduates. The fundamental rights being: Right to equality before the law and the equal protection of the law and Freedom to engage in any lawful occupation, profession, trade, business or enterprise. The SC further said that SLMC, as per the Sri Lanka Medical Council Act does not have the right to refrain from enacting their responsibilities. It adds, that by not enacting the previous decisions of the judiciary it seems that the SLMC has taken over a power that has not been vested with them.