Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a notice to the Centre and the National Medical Commission seeking their response on a petition to allow over 140 Indian students enrolled in Chinese medical colleges to undergo practical training in India as they have been unable to return to their universities because of travel restrictions.

A bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh issued notice to the ministries of law, external affairs and health as well as the commission on the petition, which also seeks recognition of the students’ online classes. The court directed the authorities to look into the matter as the petitioners are “students, not terrorists”.

The 147 petitioners, who are students of medicine at Ningbo University in China, had informed the court that they returned to India in early 2020 but have not been able to go back as the neighbouring country is not issuing student visas.

They said that while China had no plan of taking Indian students back at least till September, the Indian authorities had notified regulations mandating Indian students studying in foreign universities to undertake the entire course, training and internship/ clerkship from the respective medical institutions abroad.

Their plea states that according to the regulations issued in November last year, no part of their medical training and internship is permitted to be done in India or from any country other than the nation from where the primary medical qualification is obtained.

The petitioners have contended that on account of these conditions, which have been imposed during an unprecedented pandemic, their future is at stake as they are “neither being allowed to attain physical training/ internships/ clerkships in India by the NMC, nor are any clarifications being provided by the authorities regarding the approval to the online theory classes attended by them”.

The matter will be heard next on March 21.