The Supreme Court has ruled that Doctors possessing medical degrees from an off-shore overseas campus cannot practice in

India if the certificate awarded to them is not recognised by the country in which the college is located,

A bench of justices R M Lodha and H L Gokhale passed the ruling dismissing a bunch of appeals by students of Tamil Nadu-based Vinayaka Medical Research Foundation , VMRF challenging refusal of the Medical Council of India to

recognise their degree from the varsity's off-shore campus in Thailand.

The MCI had refused to recognise the degree on the ground that the same was not recognised by Thailand and, hence, did not constitute a primary degree for the purpose of according recognition in India.

A division bench of the Madras High Court had earlier upheld the MCI's appeal against a single judge's order who had directed the regulatory body to permit the students to write the screening test.