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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.:

1. 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

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admission capacity in the recognized course, is the question of

law arising for consideration in this case.  

2. 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.”

3. Section 10A of  the Act  deals  with  the permission for

establishment of new medical college, new course of study and

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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

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be fixed by the Council from time to time for being admitted to such course or training.”

4.  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

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granted a medical qualification on the basis of such increase in the admission capacity shall be such as may be prescribed.”  

(Emphasis supplied)

5. 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.  

6. 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”.  

7. 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

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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.  

8. 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

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the  Act  is  required.  But  there  are  three  Exceptions to  this.

Those Exceptions are provided under Section 10B:

(i) The medical qualification granted to any student

of  a  medical  college  established  without  permission  of  the

Central Government;

(ii) 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;

(iii) 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.  

9. As a matter of fact, Exceptions (i) and (ii) under Section

10B of the Act, in any way, are redundant since any course or

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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.  

10. 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.  

11. 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

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of the Central Government as per the scheme under Section

10A of the Act.  

12. 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:-

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(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.)”

13. 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).

14. 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

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(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. …”  

15. 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

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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.”

16. 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

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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).

17. 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.  

18. 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

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was  granted  for  increasing  admission  capacity  without

recognition of the existing capacity, as increased from time to

time.

19. 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.”

20. We do not find any substance in the objection. In the

background of the facts narrated by us, only this Court could

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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.

21. 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.

22. There shall be no order as to costs.  

                                        ..…….…..…………J.

                   (ANIL R. DAVE)

..……………………J.                 (KURIAN JOSEPH)

New Delhi; August 6, 2015.  

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