'Suitability Certificate' From Indian Nursing Council Not Mandatory For Registering Nurses Trained Outside State: Kerala High Court

Justice N Nagaresh was delivering the judgment in a writ petition which challenged the insistence of recognition of the Nursing Colleges by Indian Nursing Council for registration as Nurse in the State of Kerala for persons who have obtained their degrees outside Kerala.

The petitioners in the present case were Karnataka State Association of Management of Nursing and Allied Health Science Institution who submitted that several students, who completed B.Sc Nursing from the Nursing Colleges of Karnataka were not being allowed to register in Kerala for the reason that Indian Nursing Council has not given recognition to the Institutions conducting B.Sc Nursing Courses in Karnataka.

It was submitted that the Institutions are registered and recognised by the Karnataka State Nursing Council and degree of Nursing granted by any College in the Country affiliated to respective State Nursing Council should be recognised.

The Court examined the provisions of Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947 and noted that Section 10 of the Act mandated that qualifications listed in the Part I Schedule to the Act are recognised qualifications. Section 11 provides that a recognised qualification shall be sufficient for enrolment in any State Register, notwithstanding any other law, while Section 13 and 14 empowers the INC to inspect institutions and, where necessary, withdraw recognition of qualifications, but not confer general power to grant or deny institutional recognition.

The Court also examined the Kerala Nurses and Midwives Act, 1953 and found no statutory requirement for production of an INC Suitability Certificate as a condition for registration. Rather, the Indian Nursing Council Regulation, 2020 mentions the Suitability Certificate demanded by the State Council.

It also observed that the regulations relating to “Suitability” are mechanisms to ensure academic standards, and are not tools to deny statutory recognition to qualifications already included in the Schedule to the Act.

“Issuance of Suitability Certificate therefore is a consequence of statutory inspection conducted by the Indian Nursing Council, which is intended to assess the suitability with regard to availability of teaching faculty, clinical and infrastructural facility in conformity with the Regulations framed under the provisions of the Act,” the Court noted

Relying on Supreme Court precedent and a 2024 decision of Karnataka High Court in WP 28043/ 2024, the Court affirmed that once a qualification is recognised under the Central Act, its validity extends across India, and State authorities cannot question its legitimacy on policy grounds.

“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.” Court added

The Court thus disposed of the petition by directing the State Council to register the students, who completed Courses of Nursing from the Institutions run by the members of the petitioner-Association within Karnataka State and allow them to practice as Nurses, as long as their qualification is included in the Schedule to the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947.

Case Title: Karnataka State Association of the Management of Nursing & Allied Health Science Institution v State of Kerala and Ors.

Case No: WP(C) 24830/ 2025

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Ker) 90

Counsel for Petitioner: Rajesh Vijayan, Sikha S Nair, Jubairiya T

Counsel for Respondents: Dr. Abraham P Meachinkara, Vivek Menon, S K Saju, N Raghuraj (Sr.)