London: Indian-origin doctors battling against new discriminatory norms won a major appeal in the British High Court against the rules under which international medical graduates are required to obtain work permit before visiting Britain either for employment or training.

The judges, Lord Justice Sedley, Lord Justice Maurice Kay and Lord Justice Rimer, held the appeal filed by the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) that advice given by the Department of Health to National Health Service employers regarding doctors on the HSMP (highly-skilled migrant programme) was wrong.

Many doctors were confronting the prospect of having to return and apply again after being told that they would be subjected to the new procedure under which work permits to international doctors would be given only against specific vacancies for which suitable native doctors were not available.

This triggered large protests and the British Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (BAPIO) went to court that new rules should not be applied to those who were already in Britain.

Dr. Raman Lakshman, Vice-Chair for Policy for BAPIO, “We are absolutely delighted. This is a truly happy Diwali for thousands of doctors who have been through 18 months of unimaginable stress. Doctors on the HSMP came to the U.K. on the understanding they are required here and will be treated fairly. This judgment means that these International Medical Graduates can expect to be treated on merit for the 2008 recruitment process and onwards.”

Buddhdev Pandya, MBE corporate advisor to the BAPIO, said, “Earlier the High Court had also ruled that the department did not carry out a race impact assessment and I believe that these historical judgments are both significant and will have significant impact on the careers of thousands of international medical graduates.”

Nearly 16,000 international medical graduates have been affected since they have completed varying amounts of training but not achieved postgraduate certification.