The Union health ministry has asked the apex medical regulator to consider hearing public appeals against state medical council rulings on alleged medical negligence, a power the authority has declined to exercise despite a legal mandate.
The ministry’s policy division on Tuesday asked the National Medical Commission (NMC) to “take necessary action in accordance with law”, responding to a long-standing demand from an activist-doctor who has argued that the regulator is legally required to take up such appeals.
Kerala-based ophthalmologist K.V. Babu had complained to the health ministry in October 2025, alleging that members of the NMC had themselves “taken an illegal decision” in 2021 to not take up appeals from the general public against decisions by state medical councils.
The NMC has returned 162 appeals from patients or their relatives against rulings by various state medical councils in cases alleging medical negligence since October 2020, the NMC had revealed last year, responding to a query from Babu under the Right to Information Act.
The NMC members — including 27 doctors — had in October 2021 approved an ethics board proposal barring patients from appealing to the commission, citing fears that allowing such appeals would flood it with frivolous complaints.
Among those turned down by the NMC are Chennai-based Deepak and Suchita Mehta who had filed complaints against an obstetrician in Gujarat for allegedly misleading them during a pregnancy that led to the birth of a child with Down’s syndrome.
After unfavourable decisions by the Gujarat Medical Council, the Mehtas had attempted to approach the NMC but were told the body would not accept appeals from patients. They have since petitioned Gujarat High Court for appropriate interventions.
In Mohali, Narender Kumar, a retired brigadier, also petitioned a high court after failing to get relief from either the Uttarakhand Medical Council or the NMC in a case alleging that a doctor had fabricated medical records.
Babu, complaining to the health ministry, had described the NMC’s October 2021 decision as “illegal,” arguing that the NMC Act legislated in 2019 mandated the body to adopt earlier statutory provisions that allow patients to appeal against decisions by state medical councils.
Babu had also asked the health ministry to establish an appropriate panel to take action against the 27 doctors who participated in the decision to reject appeals from patients.
The ministry on Tuesday forwarded Babu’s representation to the NMC for “examination and appropriate action”, asking the regulator to inform the ministry of outcomes. The move marked a departure from the ministry’s earlier stand on December 22, when it told Babu that the NMC was the competent authority and that no further action was pending with the ministry.
“The note sent today is a turnaround — I’m looking at this as a positive development,” Babu said. “Only three weeks ago, the ministry appeared to wash its hands of the matter. Today’s note urges the NMC to do what is right.”