The West Bengal Medical Council on Monday, 21 September 2026, launched a sweeping registration audit of practising medical practitioners across the state, covering a 17-year period, amid rising concerns over the presence of fraudulently registered doctors. The exercise marks one of the most comprehensive scrutiny drives undertaken by the council in recent memory.

Scope of the Audit

Under the audit, registration data spanning the past 17 years will be examined to identify fake, inconsistent, or fraudulent registrations. Agencies concerned have been asked to submit information in Excel format, covering doctor names, registration numbers, fathers' names, gender details, current addresses, primary educational qualifications, and the name of the university that awarded the MBBS degree.

Additional qualifications and the degree-granting institutions for those qualifications will also be scrutinised. A council source said: 'Arrangements are being made to check not only the registration numbers or the doctor's names, but also the information about the detailed educational qualifications and the degree-granting institutions.'

Consequences for Fake Registrations

The council has made clear that strict action awaits anyone found to have obtained registration fraudulently. 'If a fake doctor is found, his MBBS registration will be cancelled, and an FIR will be lodged with the police against the persons concerned for legal action,' a council source said. This dual-track response — deregistration and criminal action — signals the council's intent to go beyond administrative penalties.

The Complaint That Preceded the Audit

The audit follows a formal complaint filed on 15 September by Rajeev Pandey, secretary of the Association of Private Hospitals and Nursing Homes (APHN), with the Bidhannagar Police Commissionerate. The complaint sought an investigation into senior West Bengal Medical Council officials over what it described as an alleged increase in registrations of fake doctors in the state.

The complaint named Sudipta Roy, the council's President; Sushanta Roy, its Secretary; Manas Chakraborty, the Registrar; and council member MLA Nirmal Maji, among others. Notably, both Roy and Maji are reportedly former Trinamool Congress (TMC) legislators, lending the case a political dimension that critics argue demands independent oversight.

Broader Implications for Healthcare in West Bengal

The surfacing of fake doctors in West Bengal is not an isolated concern — it reflects a systemic vulnerability in credential verification that, experts argue, puts patients at direct risk. This is the first time the council has initiated a retrospective audit of this scale since registration irregularities began drawing scrutiny. The outcome of the exercise is expected to have implications not only for individual practitioners but also for the private hospitals and nursing homes that may have employed them without adequate background checks.

All eyes are now on how swiftly the council processes the data and whether the findings lead to prosecutions — a test of both institutional resolve and the state's ability to self-correct in a politically sensitive environment.