The Sri Lanka Medical Council (SLMC) has filed a motion at the Supreme Court seeking more time to register 35 graduates of the South Asian Institute of Technology and Medicine (SAITM), the Sunday Observer learns.
Considering a petition filed by three graduates representing the first three batches of SAITM, the apex court on July 30 ordered SLMC to grant Provisional Registration (PR) to all 85 SAITM graduates within three weeks. Following the order, the SLMC granted PR to 50 graduates of the first and second batches on August 16.
However, the SLMC failed to grant PR to 35 graduates of SAITM before August 19, the expiry date of the period given by the Supreme Court to register them.
In the motion sent to the Supreme Court, the SLMC had stated some technical errors pertaining in the merit list of 27 graduates of the third batch and eight others of the first and second batches and had repeated exams.
Though he was not in a position to describe the technical errors, Registrar SLMC, Dr. Chandana Atapattu confirmed to the Sunday Observer yesterday that such motion has been sent to be filed at the Supreme Courts on August 20.
SAITM graduate and now a registered medical practitioner Shane Haple told the Sunday Observer yesterday that the SLMC has come up with various excuses to delay the inevitable registration of all SAITM graduates.
“Reviewing merit lists is under the purview of the Ministry of Health, not the SLMC. Therefore the SLMC has to comply with the court order and grant PR to the rest of the graduates with no delays,” Shane said.