IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 306 OF 2015
Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital
and another … Petitioner (s)
Versus
Union of India and another … Respondent (s)
J U D G M E N T
KURIAN, J.:
The Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”
specifically provides for recognition of medical qualification granted by
universities or medical institutions either in India or abroad. Once a
medical qualification granted by a medical institution in India is
recognized by the Central Government, whether recognition is also required
for the admission capacity which is increased from time to time or whether
permission of the Central Government alone is required for such an increase
in the admission capacity in the recognized course, is the question of law
arising for consideration in this case.
Recognition of medical qualification granted by universities or medical
institutions in India is dealt with under Section 11 of the Act. The
provision reads as follows:
“11. Recognition of medical qualifications granted by Universities of
medical institutions of India.- (1) The medical qualifications
granted by any University or medical institution in India which are
included in the First Schedule shall be recognized medical qualifications
for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Any University or medical institution in India which grants a medical
qualification not included in the First Schedule may apply to the Central
Government to have such qualification recognized, and the Central
Government, after consulting the Council, may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, amend the First Schedule so as to include such
qualification therein, and any such notification may also direct that an
entry shall be made in the last column of the First Schedule against such
medical qualification declaring that it shall be a recognised medical
qualification only when granted after a specified date.”
Section 10A of the Act deals with the permission for establishment of new
medical college, new course of study and admission capacity. To the extent
relevant, Section 10A(1) of the Act reads as follows:
“10A. PERMISSION FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW MEDICAL COLLEGE, NEW COURSE OF
STUDY ETC.
1. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the
time being in force:-
1. no person shall establish a medical college; ( or )
2. no medical college shall-
(i). open a new or higher course of study or training (including a
postgraduate course of study or training) which would enable a student of
such course or training to qualify himself for the award of any recognised
medical qualification; or
(ii). increase its admission capacity in any course of study or training
(including a postgraduate course of study or training),
except with the previous permission of the Central Government obtained in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
Explanation 1 - For the purposes of this section, "person" includes any
University or a trust but does not include the Central Government.
Explanation 2 - For the purposes of this section "admission capacity" in
relation to any course of study or training (including postgraduate course
of study or training) in a medical college, means the maximum number of
students that may be fixed by the Council from time to time for being
admitted to such course or training.”
Section 10B of the Act deals with the non-recognition of the medical
qualifications in certain cases. The provision reads as follows:
“10B. Non-recognition of medical qualifications in certain cases.- (1)
Where any medical college is established except with the previous
permission of the Central Government in accordance with the provisions of
section 10A, no medical qualification granted to any student of such
medical college shall a recognised medical qualification for the purposes
of this Act.
(2) Where any medical college opens a new or higher course of study or
training (including a postgraduate course of study or training) except with
the previous permission of the Central Government in accordance with the
provisions of section 10A, no medical qualification granted to any student
of such medical college on the basis of such study or training shall be a
recognised medical qualification for the purposes of this Act.
(3) Where any medical college increases its admission capacity in any
course of study or training except with the previous permission of the
Central Government in accordance with the provisions of section 10A, no
medical qualification granted to any student of such medical college on the
basis of the increase in its admission capacity shall be a recognised
medical qualification for the purposes of this Act.
Explanation - For the purposes of this section, the criteria for
identifying a student who has been granted a medical qualification on the
basis of such increase in the admission capacity shall be such as may be
prescribed.”
(Emphasis supplied)
It is clear from the scheme of the Act, as per the relevant provisions
extracted above, that recognition and permission are two different
concepts. Recognition is of a medical qualification, ordinarily known as a
course conducted by an institution which is also to be recognized.
Section 11(2) of the Act provides that the medical qualifications and the
institutions thus recognized are to be notified in the First Schedule. The
First Schedule is titled as “RECOGNITION OF MEDICAL QUALIFICATIONS GRANTED
BY THE UNIVERSITIES OR MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA”.
Section 10A of the Act deals with permission for establishment of a new
medical college and a new course of study. No person shall establish a
medical college and no medical college shall open a new or higher course of
study or training for the award of any recognized medical qualification and
no person shall increase the admission capacity in any course of study or
training, except with the prior permission of the Central Government
obtained in accordance with the scheme provided in the Section. Admission
capacity, as per Explanation 2 to Section 10A, in relation to any course of
study or training in a medical college means the maximum number of students
that may be fixed by the Medical Council from time to time for being
admitted to such course or training.
In short, permission of the Central Government is required - (1) to
establish a medical college, (2) to open a new course of study or training
other than the recognized course and (3) to increase the admission capacity
in any course of study or training. However, recognition of the Central
Government is also required for the medical college and the course of study
for the purpose of the medical qualification. Once a medical college is
recognized under Section 11 of the Act along with medical qualification,
thereafter, for increase in the admission capacity in any course of study
or training that is recognized under Section 11 of the Act, only permission
from Central Government as per the scheme under Section 10A of the Act is
required. But there are three Exceptions to this. Those Exceptions are
provided under Section 10B:
The medical qualification granted to any student of a medical college
established without permission of the Central Government;
Medical qualification granted to any student in any recognized medical
college where the new or higher course of study or training is conducted
without the previous permission of the Central Government;
Where a medical college increased its admission capacity in any recognized
course of study or training without the previous permission of the Central
Government, and in such a case, the medical qualification granted to those
students of such recognized medical colleges on the basis of the increased
admission capacity, which is unauthorized, shall not be a recognized
medical qualification for the purpose of the Act.
As a matter of fact, Exceptions (i) and (ii) under Section 10B of the Act,
in any way, are redundant since any course or training conducted in any
medical college, if not included in the First Schedule as per Section 11 of
the Act, will not be a recognized medical qualification. However, the third
Exception is in respect of a student (s) admitted in excess of the
admission capacity provided under Section 10A of the Act by the Central
Government.
It is vehemently contended on behalf of the Medical Council of India and
the Central Government that the admission capacity also requires
recognition in addition to the permission by the Central Government. The
position canvassed is that once a course is sanctioned (If it is M.B.B.S. 5-
years course; if it is a P.G. course - may be 2 or 3-years course), the
recognition is granted only when the course is completed.
Under the scheme of the Act, permission is for the admission capacity and
recognition is for the course and the institution. Once a course and an
institution is notified in the First Schedule as per Section 11 of the Act
as a recognized course and a recognized institution, the admission capacity
or its increase in any recognized course needs only the permission of the
Central Government as per the scheme under Section 10A of the Act.
Having analysed the legal position, we shall now deal with the factual
matrix of the present case. The petitioner medical college was granted
permission to establish a new medical college and it was recognized by
Notification dated 17.02.2009. For the purposes of easy reference, we shall
extract the relevant portion of the Notification published in the Gazette
of India dated 17.02.2009, which reads as under:
“NOTIFICATION
S.O. In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of the
section 11 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), the
Central Government, after consulting the Medical Council of India, hereby
makes the following further amendments in the First Schedule to the said
Act, namely:-
In the said First Schedule after “Bharathidasan University” and
entries thereto “Bharath University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu” shall be added
and against “Bharath University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu” under the heading
‘Recognised Medical Qualificatoin’ [hereinafter referred to as column (2)],
and under the heading ‘abbreviation for Registration’ [hereinafter referred
to as column (3), the following shall be inserted, namely:-
(2) (3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bachelor of Medicine and M.B.B.S.
Bachelor of Surgery
(This shall be a recognized medical qualification when granted by Bharath
University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu after February 2008 in respect of students
trained at Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.)”
As per Order dated 15.07.2013, the petitioner was given permission to
increase the seats for M.B.B.S. from 100 to 150 for the Academic Session
2013-2015 and that is not in dispute also (Annexure-A4 in I.A.-2 of 2015).
The petitioner-medical college submitted an application dated 25.09.2013
for permission to increase the admission capacity from 150 to 250 for the
Academic Session 2014-2015. In that regard, they have also filed a writ
petition before the Madras High Court leading to Judgment dated 29.04.2014
(Annexure-P1). The Central Government was directed to consider the
application of the petitioner and pass orders on merits on or before
31.05.2014. The writ appeal filed by the Medical Council of India was
dismissed by Judgment dated 09.06.2014 in Writ Appeal No. 728 of 2014. The
Medical Council of India approached this Court leading to Order dated
18.07.2014 in Civil Appeal No. 6564 of 2014. The operative portion of the
Order reads as follows:
“… Heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties.
Looking at the facts of the case, in our opinion it would be just and
proper to treat the application filed by the applicant to the Medical
Council of India for getting additional seats for the academic year 2015-
2016 instead of 2014-15.
The Medical Council of India is directed to complete the inspection of the
applicant-College before 31st October, 2014. …”
The Medical Council of India filed I.A. No. 3 of 2014 for modification of
order dated 18.07.2014 contending that only if the intake of 150 (increased
strength of 50) is recognized by the Central Government, the request for
further increase can be considered. On 17.10.2014, this Court directed the
Medical Council of India to complete the inspection in respect of the
application for the intake of 250 students by 15.11.2014. Accordingly, the
inspection was conducted and the report is produced as Annexure-P8. It is
fairly admitted by the Medical Council of India and the Central Government
that the petitioner-medical college satisfies all the requirements for
increase of admission capacity from 150 to 250, as per the report, I. A.
No. 3 of 2014 for modification of the Order dated 18.07.2014 in Civil
Appeal was disposed of on 17.11.2014. The operative portion of the order
reads as follows:
“… In pursuance of the query raised by us, it has been submitted by Mr.
P.S. Patwalia, learned Additional Solicitor General, appearing on behalf of
appellant, that as directed by this Court, inspection has already been
completed before 15th November, 2014.
The Authorities shall take appropriate decision on the basis of the report
of inspection and other relevant facts. No other direction is given to the
Authorities.
Interlocutory Application No. 3 for clarification/ modification of Court’s
order is disposed of accordingly.”
Despite all these developments, surprisingly, if not shockingly, the
Medical Council of India, it its Meeting held on 20.11.2014, decided that
“… since Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chennai is not
recognized for 150 admissions, it is not eligible for further increase from
150 to 250 as per the earlier decision dated 14.03.2014”(Annexure-A9 of
I.A.2 of 2015).
The decision dated 14.03.2014 is one taken by the Committee not to increase
the strength in any medical college unless the existing strength is
recognized by the Central Government (Annexure-A8 of I.A.-2 of 2015). As we
have discussed herein above, the Act does not provide for recognition of
the admission capacity in a recognized medical college for a recognized
course. The regulations, “The Opening of a New or Higher Course of Study or
Training (including Post-graduate Course of Study or Training) and Increase
of Admission Capacity in any Course or Study or Training (including a Post-
graduate Course of Study or Training) Regulations, 2000”, also does not
contemplate such a requirement. Therefore, there is no legal basis for the
decision dated 14.03.2014 and it is only to be ignored.
It is also seen from the pleadings that in case of two medical colleges (1)
S.P. Medical College, Bikaner, Rajasthan and (2) Maulana Azad Medical
College, New Delhi, permission was granted for increasing admission
capacity without recognition of the existing capacity, as increased from
time to time.
In the above circumstances, we do not find any justification whatsoever in
denying relief to the petitioner. Learned Counsel appearing for the Medical
Council of India raised an objection regarding maintainability of the
petition placing reliance on the recent Judgment of this Court in Writ
Petition (Civil) No. 441 of 2015 and connected cases decided on 23.07.2015.
Our attention was invited to Paragraph-27 of the Judgment, which reads as
follows:
“27. Under Article 32 of the Constitution, this Court is not supposed to
go into finding of facts recorded by the authorities and to come to a
different conclusion. Moreover, having regard to the law settled by
Constitution Bench of this Court in number of decisions, in our considered
opinion, the rights so claimed by the petitioners are not fundamental
rights; hence the same cannot be agitated directly before this Court under
Article 32 of the Constitution.”
We do not find any substance in the objection. In the background of the
facts narrated by us, only this Court could have entertained the grievance
of the petitioner. Moreover, there are no disputed facts at all in the
present case. All the material facts stated in the writ petition are
admitted. The dispute is only on question of law. The present petition is
only in continuation of the earlier proceedings before this Court.
In the above circumstances, the Writ Petition is allowed. The impugned
orders are quashed. The respondents are directed to process and consider
afresh the application for the increase of seats from 150 to 250 for the
M.B.B.S. course for the Academic Session 2015-2016 and pass orders
thereon positively within a period of two weeks from today.
There shall be no order as to costs.
..…….…..…………J.
(ANIL R. DAVE)
..……………………J.
(KURIAN JOSEPH)
New Delhi;
August 6, 2015.
-----------------------
REPORTABLE
-----------------------
15
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 306 OF 2015
Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital
and another … Petitioner (s)
Versus
Union of India and another … Respondent (s)
J U D G M E N T
KURIAN, J.:
The Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”
specifically provides for recognition of medical qualification granted by
universities or medical institutions either in India or abroad. Once a
medical qualification granted by a medical institution in India is
recognized by the Central Government, whether recognition is also required
for the admission capacity which is increased from time to time or whether
permission of the Central Government alone is required for such an increase
in the admission capacity in the recognized course, is the question of law
arising for consideration in this case.
Recognition of medical qualification granted by universities or medical
institutions in India is dealt with under Section 11 of the Act. The
provision reads as follows:
“11. Recognition of medical qualifications granted by Universities of
medical institutions of India.- (1) The medical qualifications
granted by any University or medical institution in India which are
included in the First Schedule shall be recognized medical qualifications
for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Any University or medical institution in India which grants a medical
qualification not included in the First Schedule may apply to the Central
Government to have such qualification recognized, and the Central
Government, after consulting the Council, may, by notification in the
Official Gazette, amend the First Schedule so as to include such
qualification therein, and any such notification may also direct that an
entry shall be made in the last column of the First Schedule against such
medical qualification declaring that it shall be a recognised medical
qualification only when granted after a specified date.”
Section 10A of the Act deals with the permission for establishment of new
medical college, new course of study and admission capacity. To the extent
relevant, Section 10A(1) of the Act reads as follows:
“10A. PERMISSION FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW MEDICAL COLLEGE, NEW COURSE OF
STUDY ETC.
1. Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the
time being in force:-
1. no person shall establish a medical college; ( or )
2. no medical college shall-
(i). open a new or higher course of study or training (including a
postgraduate course of study or training) which would enable a student of
such course or training to qualify himself for the award of any recognised
medical qualification; or
(ii). increase its admission capacity in any course of study or training
(including a postgraduate course of study or training),
except with the previous permission of the Central Government obtained in
accordance with the provisions of this section.
Explanation 1 - For the purposes of this section, "person" includes any
University or a trust but does not include the Central Government.
Explanation 2 - For the purposes of this section "admission capacity" in
relation to any course of study or training (including postgraduate course
of study or training) in a medical college, means the maximum number of
students that may be fixed by the Council from time to time for being
admitted to such course or training.”
Section 10B of the Act deals with the non-recognition of the medical
qualifications in certain cases. The provision reads as follows:
“10B. Non-recognition of medical qualifications in certain cases.- (1)
Where any medical college is established except with the previous
permission of the Central Government in accordance with the provisions of
section 10A, no medical qualification granted to any student of such
medical college shall a recognised medical qualification for the purposes
of this Act.
(2) Where any medical college opens a new or higher course of study or
training (including a postgraduate course of study or training) except with
the previous permission of the Central Government in accordance with the
provisions of section 10A, no medical qualification granted to any student
of such medical college on the basis of such study or training shall be a
recognised medical qualification for the purposes of this Act.
(3) Where any medical college increases its admission capacity in any
course of study or training except with the previous permission of the
Central Government in accordance with the provisions of section 10A, no
medical qualification granted to any student of such medical college on the
basis of the increase in its admission capacity shall be a recognised
medical qualification for the purposes of this Act.
Explanation - For the purposes of this section, the criteria for
identifying a student who has been granted a medical qualification on the
basis of such increase in the admission capacity shall be such as may be
prescribed.”
(Emphasis supplied)
It is clear from the scheme of the Act, as per the relevant provisions
extracted above, that recognition and permission are two different
concepts. Recognition is of a medical qualification, ordinarily known as a
course conducted by an institution which is also to be recognized.
Section 11(2) of the Act provides that the medical qualifications and the
institutions thus recognized are to be notified in the First Schedule. The
First Schedule is titled as “RECOGNITION OF MEDICAL QUALIFICATIONS GRANTED
BY THE UNIVERSITIES OR MEDICAL INSTITUTIONS IN INDIA”.
Section 10A of the Act deals with permission for establishment of a new
medical college and a new course of study. No person shall establish a
medical college and no medical college shall open a new or higher course of
study or training for the award of any recognized medical qualification and
no person shall increase the admission capacity in any course of study or
training, except with the prior permission of the Central Government
obtained in accordance with the scheme provided in the Section. Admission
capacity, as per Explanation 2 to Section 10A, in relation to any course of
study or training in a medical college means the maximum number of students
that may be fixed by the Medical Council from time to time for being
admitted to such course or training.
In short, permission of the Central Government is required - (1) to
establish a medical college, (2) to open a new course of study or training
other than the recognized course and (3) to increase the admission capacity
in any course of study or training. However, recognition of the Central
Government is also required for the medical college and the course of study
for the purpose of the medical qualification. Once a medical college is
recognized under Section 11 of the Act along with medical qualification,
thereafter, for increase in the admission capacity in any course of study
or training that is recognized under Section 11 of the Act, only permission
from Central Government as per the scheme under Section 10A of the Act is
required. But there are three Exceptions to this. Those Exceptions are
provided under Section 10B:
The medical qualification granted to any student of a medical college
established without permission of the Central Government;
Medical qualification granted to any student in any recognized medical
college where the new or higher course of study or training is conducted
without the previous permission of the Central Government;
Where a medical college increased its admission capacity in any recognized
course of study or training without the previous permission of the Central
Government, and in such a case, the medical qualification granted to those
students of such recognized medical colleges on the basis of the increased
admission capacity, which is unauthorized, shall not be a recognized
medical qualification for the purpose of the Act.
As a matter of fact, Exceptions (i) and (ii) under Section 10B of the Act,
in any way, are redundant since any course or training conducted in any
medical college, if not included in the First Schedule as per Section 11 of
the Act, will not be a recognized medical qualification. However, the third
Exception is in respect of a student (s) admitted in excess of the
admission capacity provided under Section 10A of the Act by the Central
Government.
It is vehemently contended on behalf of the Medical Council of India and
the Central Government that the admission capacity also requires
recognition in addition to the permission by the Central Government. The
position canvassed is that once a course is sanctioned (If it is M.B.B.S. 5-
years course; if it is a P.G. course - may be 2 or 3-years course), the
recognition is granted only when the course is completed.
Under the scheme of the Act, permission is for the admission capacity and
recognition is for the course and the institution. Once a course and an
institution is notified in the First Schedule as per Section 11 of the Act
as a recognized course and a recognized institution, the admission capacity
or its increase in any recognized course needs only the permission of the
Central Government as per the scheme under Section 10A of the Act.
Having analysed the legal position, we shall now deal with the factual
matrix of the present case. The petitioner medical college was granted
permission to establish a new medical college and it was recognized by
Notification dated 17.02.2009. For the purposes of easy reference, we shall
extract the relevant portion of the Notification published in the Gazette
of India dated 17.02.2009, which reads as under:
“NOTIFICATION
S.O. In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of the
section 11 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 (102 of 1956), the
Central Government, after consulting the Medical Council of India, hereby
makes the following further amendments in the First Schedule to the said
Act, namely:-
In the said First Schedule after “Bharathidasan University” and
entries thereto “Bharath University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu” shall be added
and against “Bharath University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu” under the heading
‘Recognised Medical Qualificatoin’ [hereinafter referred to as column (2)],
and under the heading ‘abbreviation for Registration’ [hereinafter referred
to as column (3), the following shall be inserted, namely:-
(2) (3)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Bachelor of Medicine and M.B.B.S.
Bachelor of Surgery
(This shall be a recognized medical qualification when granted by Bharath
University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu after February 2008 in respect of students
trained at Sree Balaji Medical College & Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu.)”
As per Order dated 15.07.2013, the petitioner was given permission to
increase the seats for M.B.B.S. from 100 to 150 for the Academic Session
2013-2015 and that is not in dispute also (Annexure-A4 in I.A.-2 of 2015).
The petitioner-medical college submitted an application dated 25.09.2013
for permission to increase the admission capacity from 150 to 250 for the
Academic Session 2014-2015. In that regard, they have also filed a writ
petition before the Madras High Court leading to Judgment dated 29.04.2014
(Annexure-P1). The Central Government was directed to consider the
application of the petitioner and pass orders on merits on or before
31.05.2014. The writ appeal filed by the Medical Council of India was
dismissed by Judgment dated 09.06.2014 in Writ Appeal No. 728 of 2014. The
Medical Council of India approached this Court leading to Order dated
18.07.2014 in Civil Appeal No. 6564 of 2014. The operative portion of the
Order reads as follows:
“… Heard the learned counsel appearing for the parties.
Looking at the facts of the case, in our opinion it would be just and
proper to treat the application filed by the applicant to the Medical
Council of India for getting additional seats for the academic year 2015-
2016 instead of 2014-15.
The Medical Council of India is directed to complete the inspection of the
applicant-College before 31st October, 2014. …”
The Medical Council of India filed I.A. No. 3 of 2014 for modification of
order dated 18.07.2014 contending that only if the intake of 150 (increased
strength of 50) is recognized by the Central Government, the request for
further increase can be considered. On 17.10.2014, this Court directed the
Medical Council of India to complete the inspection in respect of the
application for the intake of 250 students by 15.11.2014. Accordingly, the
inspection was conducted and the report is produced as Annexure-P8. It is
fairly admitted by the Medical Council of India and the Central Government
that the petitioner-medical college satisfies all the requirements for
increase of admission capacity from 150 to 250, as per the report, I. A.
No. 3 of 2014 for modification of the Order dated 18.07.2014 in Civil
Appeal was disposed of on 17.11.2014. The operative portion of the order
reads as follows:
“… In pursuance of the query raised by us, it has been submitted by Mr.
P.S. Patwalia, learned Additional Solicitor General, appearing on behalf of
appellant, that as directed by this Court, inspection has already been
completed before 15th November, 2014.
The Authorities shall take appropriate decision on the basis of the report
of inspection and other relevant facts. No other direction is given to the
Authorities.
Interlocutory Application No. 3 for clarification/ modification of Court’s
order is disposed of accordingly.”
Despite all these developments, surprisingly, if not shockingly, the
Medical Council of India, it its Meeting held on 20.11.2014, decided that
“… since Sree Balaji Medical College and Hospital, Chennai is not
recognized for 150 admissions, it is not eligible for further increase from
150 to 250 as per the earlier decision dated 14.03.2014”(Annexure-A9 of
I.A.2 of 2015).
The decision dated 14.03.2014 is one taken by the Committee not to increase
the strength in any medical college unless the existing strength is
recognized by the Central Government (Annexure-A8 of I.A.-2 of 2015). As we
have discussed herein above, the Act does not provide for recognition of
the admission capacity in a recognized medical college for a recognized
course. The regulations, “The Opening of a New or Higher Course of Study or
Training (including Post-graduate Course of Study or Training) and Increase
of Admission Capacity in any Course or Study or Training (including a Post-
graduate Course of Study or Training) Regulations, 2000”, also does not
contemplate such a requirement. Therefore, there is no legal basis for the
decision dated 14.03.2014 and it is only to be ignored.
It is also seen from the pleadings that in case of two medical colleges (1)
S.P. Medical College, Bikaner, Rajasthan and (2) Maulana Azad Medical
College, New Delhi, permission was granted for increasing admission
capacity without recognition of the existing capacity, as increased from
time to time.
In the above circumstances, we do not find any justification whatsoever in
denying relief to the petitioner. Learned Counsel appearing for the Medical
Council of India raised an objection regarding maintainability of the
petition placing reliance on the recent Judgment of this Court in Writ
Petition (Civil) No. 441 of 2015 and connected cases decided on 23.07.2015.
Our attention was invited to Paragraph-27 of the Judgment, which reads as
follows:
“27. Under Article 32 of the Constitution, this Court is not supposed to
go into finding of facts recorded by the authorities and to come to a
different conclusion. Moreover, having regard to the law settled by
Constitution Bench of this Court in number of decisions, in our considered
opinion, the rights so claimed by the petitioners are not fundamental
rights; hence the same cannot be agitated directly before this Court under
Article 32 of the Constitution.”
We do not find any substance in the objection. In the background of the
facts narrated by us, only this Court could have entertained the grievance
of the petitioner. Moreover, there are no disputed facts at all in the
present case. All the material facts stated in the writ petition are
admitted. The dispute is only on question of law. The present petition is
only in continuation of the earlier proceedings before this Court.
In the above circumstances, the Writ Petition is allowed. The impugned
orders are quashed. The respondents are directed to process and consider
afresh the application for the increase of seats from 150 to 250 for the
M.B.B.S. course for the Academic Session 2015-2016 and pass orders
thereon positively within a period of two weeks from today.
There shall be no order as to costs.
..…….…..…………J.
(ANIL R. DAVE)
..……………………J.
(KURIAN JOSEPH)
New Delhi;
August 6, 2015.
-----------------------
REPORTABLE
-----------------------
15
