Change name on medical student's diploma, says Bombay HC

Mumbai: The Bombay high court recently came to the aid of a medical student who wished to revert to her maiden name on her diploma after a divorce. The court said, “If the student wants to forget her past and start a new life and new career, a hyper-technical approach of the college should not come in the way.”

The court directed the College of Physicians and Surgeons, an autonomous body imparting postgraduate medical education, to change the name of the student on her diploma.

The student, Jalgaon resident, had obtained her MBBS degree from Jiangsu University, China, in 2011. She is currently practising in Navi Mumbai. She got married in June 2013 before pursuing the diploma course and obtained a divorce by mutual consent on July 18, 2018. Her diploma was issued on July 13, 2018. A division bench of Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice D.S. Naidu observed, “The petition arises out of peculiar facts and circumstances.’’ She was married so the diploma was issued in her marital name.

On her divorce, she completed the necessary formalities — publication of name change in a gazette notification — and applied for a change of name on the diploma certificate.

The Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) had immediately corrected her name in the records, her advocate Abhijeet Desai submitted.