(J. Chelameswar, Shiva Kirti Singh and Abhay Manohar Sapre, JJ.)
Medical Council of India ____________________________ Appellant
v.
Vigyan Bharati Charitable Trust (Regd) and Anr. ______ Respondent(s)
Civil Appeal No. 8836 of 2015, decided on September 2, 2016
The Order of the court was delivered by
Order
1. This civil appeal arises out of an interim order dated 25.9.2015 in Writ Petition No. 16395/2015 passed by the High Court of Orissa.
2. The dispute in the writ petition is regarding the representation of the petitioners therein (respondents herein) to admit students for MBBS course for the academic year 2015-16. Without going into the details of the matter, it is sufficient to state that certain permissions required to be granted by the Medical Council of India, were not granted to the respondent for the academic year 2015-16. Therefore, the above mentioned writ petition.
3. In the said writ petition by the impugned interim order, the High Court gave various directions which reads as follows:
“9. After hearing learned counsel for the respective parties and in the light of the judgment referred hereinabnove we are of the considered view that the Union of India at the time of affording opportunity of hearing to the petitioner ought not to have remanded the matter back to the M.C.I. for further inspection and such inspection/verification if at all required could have carried out by it through any agency and or any committee. We further take not of the fact that admissions to the M.B.B.S course are to be completed by 30th September 2015 and there exists very limited time between now and the last date of admission. Keeping the interest of the students interest of the State as well as the interest of the institution involved we direct as follows:
i) That the Central Government shall granted provisional permission to the petitioner to conduct the course for the academic year 2015-16 which will be subject to further orders to be passed by us.
ii) That the State Government Institution shall start the process of allotment and the admission shall be made by the respective colleges subject to the result of the writ petition.
iii) The allotment and admission shall be made after giving information to the students regarding the pendency of the writ petition and that the admission will be subject to the result of the writ petition.
iv) Neither the petitioner-institution nor any students who are admitted by it shall claim any equity on the basis of approval/permission for admission granted by virtue of this interim direction.
Aggrieved by the said interim order, the Medical Council of India (‘MCI’ for short) approached this Court by way of Special Leave Petition which eventually came to be numbered as Civil Appeal No. 8836/2016 consequent upon grant of leave. On 16.10.2015 this Court by its interim order stayed the implementation of the impugned order with a further direction:
“The implementation of the impugned judgment is stayed. It is further directed that the appellant shall inspect the respondent-Institute within four weeks from today.”
4. The said order came to be modified by another order of this Court dated 30.11.2015 which reads:
“For the reasons given in the application for modification filed by the applicant-MCI, order dated 16th October, 2015 giving direction with regard to the inspection of the respondent Institute is kept in abeyance. Tag with Civil Appeal No. 9336/2015.”
5. In the interregnum between 25.9.2015 and 16.10.2015, the first respondent admitted certain students into the medical course (MBBS) but for such admission the appeal should have been disposed of on the ground that the academic year with reference to which the dispute arose has come to an end.
6. But in view of the fact that some students were admitted pursuant to the above mentioned order dated 25.9.2015 of the High Court, it is required to be examined as to what appropriate orders are to be passed with respect to the students so admitted. It is obvious from the impugned order of the High Court that the High Court directed the admission of students by the first respondent only on allotment by the statutory body which is responsible for the regulation of the admission in the State of Orissa, created under The Orissa Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fee) Act, 2007.
7. Some of the students admitted by the first respondent filed SLP(C) No. 8337/2016.
8. In response to a specific query from us, Mr. B. Adinarayana Rao, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioners-students stated that their admissions were made pursuant to an allotment made by a body created by the managements of the private medical colleges for the purpose of conducting a common entrance examination to fill up 15% quota by virtue of earlier directions granted by this Court in P.A. Inamdar v. State of Maharashtra 2005 (6) SCC 537 and T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka 2002 (8) SCC 481.
9. The liberty granted by TMA Pai’s case (supra) and the subsequent order by this Court to the Private Medical Colleges to fill up 15% of the available seats in an academic year under the NRI quota is not an absolute liberty. It is subject to certain limitations. One of them is the assessment of the suitability of the candidate on the basis of some transparent examination process. We are informed on behalf of the petitioners in SLP(C) No. 8337/2016 that they have chosen on the basis of an examination held. However, no material on record is available in that respect.
10. In the circumstances, even under the impugned orders of the High Court, any admissions made even after complying with the interim order of the High Court dated 25.9.2015 would only be subject to the result of the writ petition and the students or the institution cannot claim any equities.
11. In the circumstances, in view of the fact that the relevant academic year 2015-16 is already come to an end, we do not see any reason to examine the matter any further. The appeal is therefore allowed. The impugned interim order of the High Court is set aside. We also record that in view of the fact that nothing survives in the writ petition No. 16395/2015 pending before the High Court of Orissa, therefore, the said writ petition also stands dismissed.
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