State nursing councils cannot refuse to register nurses who secure nursing degree from other States: Karnataka High Court

A view of the High Court of Karnataka building.
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A State government or State nursing council cannot deny registration of a graduate in BSc (Nursing) course for the reason that the student has not graduated from a college within that State, the High Court of Karnataka has said while directing the Kerala Nurses and Midwives Council (KNMC) to register two women from Kerala who had secured their BSc (Nursing) degree from a college in Karnataka.

The court also said that a State nursing council cannot insist on the need to furnish a certificate of registration/recognition from the Indian Nursing Council (INC) for the purpose of enrolment/registration to practice the profession of nursing in that particular State.

College in Mangaluru

Justice Suraj Govindaraj passed the order while allowing a petition filed by Daniya Joy and Neethu Baby, who secured their BSc (Nursing) degree from a college in Mangaluru in 2023.

The petitioners had questioned the action of the KNMC in insisting that they should submit registration/affiliation of the nursing institution from where they had completed their education in BSc (Nursing) with the INC to register them as they had not secured their nursing degree from Kerala.

However, while pointing out that there is no mandate under the INC Act for a college involved in the field of nursing education to seek and obtain registration from the INC for the purpose of carrying out its activities, the court said that with there being no requirement for registration with the INC, nor any procedure being provided for under the INC Act for registration, the question of the KNMC insisting upon petitioners to produce such registration certificate from the INC, does not arise.

Valid across India

“Once a citizen of India is qualified and has been conferred a degree, that degree would be valid across the country, which has to be recognised by every institution… A degree issued by a university having jurisdiction in a particular taluk, district, or State will be be recognised not only in all States of the country but even abroad,” the court observed.

The court also said, “No law can bind a person to a particular State, or mandate that a person can only work in the State where he or she has obtained his or her education. Narrow parochial views like these must be avoided and it is required to be held that a citizen of the country having a fundamental right to practice any trade or profession, such a person would be so permitted to practice their trade or profession anywhere in the country.

No need for reciprocity

Also, the court made it clear that there would be no requirement for any separate arrangement between the nursing councils of one State and another State to arrive at reciprocity. “The concept of reciprocity is unnecessary because the recognition of the degree being nationwide, any nursing council across the country will have to consider and act upon a degree conferred in another State, on account of the education being completed in a college recognised by the nursing council of that State,” the court observed.