Supreme Court: A vacation bench comprising of Abdul Nazeer and Indu Malhotra, JJ. granted relief to the States of Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh by allowing them to admit fresh batches of students in the MBBS course for the upcoming academic session 2018-2019.
Earlier, the Central Government, basing its decision on the report of Medical Council of India (MCI), had denied permission of renewal to various Government colleges in the above-mentioned three States, owing to deficiencies in infrastructure. The States challenged the decision of the Central Government. The Hon’ble Supreme Court, on 14-6-2018, had directed the concerned State Governments to file affidavits regarding the deficiencies pointed out by MCI, and the steps to be taken for removal of the same within a specified time limit.
When the matter was heard on 18-6-2018, the affidavits filed by Principal Secretaries to the three Governments were tendered across the bar. In their affidavits, all the Governments had given details about the steps being taken to rectify the deficiencies pointed out by MCI in its report, along with undertakings that the timelines mentioned in the affidavits will be adhered to. In view of the affidavit and undertaking submitted by Principal Secretary of each of the three States, the Hon’ble Supreme Court granted permission to the Government Colleges concerned to admit fresh batch of students to the MBBS course for the academic year 2018-2019. The MCI was directed to carry out inspection after three months to verify the compliance of undertakings as filed before the Hon’ble Court. Further, it was ordered that the non-compliance of the undertakings within the period specified therein, will make the concerned Principal Secretary personally liable for such non-compliance. The order was passed in peculiar facts and circumstances of the case as otherwise over 800 seats in Government Medical Colleges would have been wasted. The matter was directed to be placed before the Hon’ble Court on 25-6-2018 for further proceedings. [State of Bihar v. Medical Council of India,2018 SCC OnLine SC 614, dated 18-06-2018]
