TIRUMALA MEDICAL ACADEMY EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY Vs UNION OF INDIA
Bench: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.A. BOBDE, HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE L. NAGESWARA RAO
Judgment by: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S.A. BOBDE
Case number: W.P.(C) No.-000779 / 2018
Diary number: 24285 / 2018
Advocates: Praseena Elizabeth Joseph Vs
Non-Reportable
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
Writ Petition (C) No. 779 of 2018
TIRUMALA MEDICAL ACADEMY EDUCATIONAL SOCIETY AND ANR.
………PETITIONER (S) Versus
UNION OF INDIA AND ORS. ……..RESPONDENT (S)
J U D G M E N T
L. NAGESWARA RAO, J.
1. This Writ Petition is filed challenging the letter dated
27.04.2018 of the Dental Council of India-Respondent No.2
herein to the Union of India-Respondent No.1 recommending
that the first Petitioner-Tirumala Medical Academy Educational
Society is not entitled for establishment of a dental college for
the academic session 2018-2019. The order dated 26.06.2018
passed by Respondent No.1 accepting the recommendations of
Respondent No.2 and disapproving the application of the first
Petitioner for establishment of a dental college is also assailed
in the Writ Petition. The Petitioners seek a further direction to
Respondent No.1 to issue appropriate orders granting letter of
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permission for establishing a new dental college for the
academic year 2018-2019. 2. Tirumala Medical Academy Educational Society, the first
Petitioner submitted an application for establishment of a
dental college in Nizamabad, Telangana for the academic
session 2018-2019. The Executive Committee of the second
Respondent considered the proposal in its meeting held on
21.12.2017. The Executive Committee by its letter dated
29.12.2017 recommended to the Central Government not to
approve the scheme of the first Petitioner for establishment of
dental college for the academic session 2018-2019. It was
mentioned therein that in spite of several opportunities given
to the first Petitioner, the land use certificate was not furnished
and that certificate relating to the completion of the buildings
was also not given. The Executive Committee was also not
satisfied with the attachment of the proposed dental college
with the Government Medical College and Hospital as the
certificate issued by the Principal Secretary to Government of
Andhra Pradesh was issued four years back in which it was
stated that the arrangement may be revoked in the future.
The first Petitioner was informed that an opportunity of being
heard shall be afforded to him on 17.01.2018 to make his 2
submissions regarding the recommendations made by the
second Respondent for not approving the proposal of the first
Petitioner to start a new dental college. A personal hearing
was given on 17.01.2018 in respect of the deficiencies
communicated to the first Petitioner. Certain documents were
submitted by the first Petitioner in support of its contention
that the said deficiencies have been rectified. After
considering the said documents the Hearing Committee
recommended to the first Respondent that the second
Respondent should review their recommendation of
disapproval. By a letter dated 24.01.2018, the first
Respondent informed the first Petitioner that the scheme
submitted by it for starting a dental college had been sent
back to the second Respondent for a review on the basis of the
recommendations of the Hearing Committee. 3. Pursuant to the direction by the first Respondent to
review the scheme, the second Respondent appointed a
Committee to conduct inspection of the dental college. The
inspection was carried out on 22nd and 23rd March, 2018. It is
relevant to state that there was a dispute between the first
Petitioner and Vels Education Society which was running
Meghna Institute of Dental Sciences at Nizamabad regarding 3
the affiliation to the Government Hospital, Nizamabad. Vels
Education Society filed a Writ Petition in the High Court of
Telangana and Andhra Pradesh seeking a direction to the
second Respondent not to approve the scheme of the first
Petitioner for starting a dental college. An interim order was
passed by the High Court on 17.04.2018 in I.A. No.1 of 2018 in
Writ Petition No.11172 of 2018 that the proposal of the first
Petitioner may be considered, if permissible under the
regulations having regard to the peculiar facts of the case. 4. By a letter dated 27.04.2018, the Executive Committee of
the second Respondent recommended to the first Respondent
to disapprove the application/scheme of the first Petitioner for
establishment of a dental college. Relying upon the relevant
regulations, the request of the first Petitioner regarding the
clinical attachment with the Government Hospital, Nizamabad
was rejected as only one dental college can be attached to a
Government Hospital. Meghna Institute of Dental Sciences,
Nizamabad was already having clinical attachment to the
Government Hospital. Apart from the said deficiency, several
others were pointed out in the letter dated 27.04.2018 which
are as follows:
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“2. The college has four specialties clinics in Prothodontics, Pedodontics, Operative and Periodontics in one clinic hall.
3. The oral Surgery clinics are in next hall. 4. There is no biometrics for staff attendance. 5. There was shortage of clinical material. 6. There was no record of work done in Register/ log
book of lab/ Ceramic work. 7. Many staff have residential address of Hyderabad
city (160 km from college). 8. 15 affidavits are incomplete, despite requests to
complete them and give proofs of degrees, registration etc.
9. The list of medical college staff (teachers + non teaching) was not provided in the inspection hence, no verification could be done of medical teachers teaching the dental students.
10. Some Professors have no IT Returns after 2014. 11. The library had no journals, back journals only a few
e- journals. 12. No staff lives in the dental college premises. 13. The information of annexures No. 7, 8 are to be
provided by the dental college directly to the council, as it was not provided during inspection.
14. Medical Teaching Staff information not given. 15. DCI cards not available. 16. Information about university approval of appointment
of teachers not available. 17. Attached Medical College details are as under:-
Department Require d
Allotted Occupancy
During last 6 months
On the day of Inspection
General Ward- Medical including allied specialties
30 Information not given to the Inspectors
General Ward- Surgical including allied specialties
30
Private Ward (A/c & Non A/c)
9
Maternity Ward 15 Pediatric Ward 6 Intensive Care Services (4% of bed strength)
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5
Critical Care Services (6% of bed strength)
18. Area Requirement (As per Bureau of Indian Standards):-
Required Available Covered Area 20 sq.m./bed Information not given Impatient Services 40% Outpatient Services 35% Department and supportive Services
25%
19. There are following information of Man Power Requirement in various departments not given by the college authority during Inspection:-
Medical Staff: - General Surgery-2, General Medicine- 2, Obstetrics & Gynaecology-2, ENT-2, Paediatrics- 2, Anaesthesia-2, Orthopaedics-2, Pharmacologist-1, Radiologist-1, GDMO-1, Community Medicine-1, Hospital Administration-1. Nursing Staff: Matron-1, Sister Incharge-6, O.T. Nurses-6, General Nurses-20, Labour Room Nurses-4. Health Staff: Female Health Assistant-1, Extension Educator Paramedical Staff-1, Lab Technician/ Blood Bank Tech-4, ECG Technician-1, Pharmacist-4, Sr. Radiographer-1, CSSD-2, Medical Records-1. Engineering Staff: Civil-2, Mechanical-2, Electrical-2, Engineering Aid-4. Other Staff: Drivers-2, Carpentor-1, Cooks-2, Barbar- 1, Class IV including chowdikers-55. Administrative Staff: Office Superintendent-1, Head Clerk-1, Cashier-1, Stenographer-1, UDC-2, LDC-4.
20. Non-Teaching Staff/ Ministerial Staff: (Annexure10), Manager-4, Assistants-7, D.S.A. (Chair side attendant)-12, Dent. Tech. (Dental Mechanic)-6 Dent.Hygst.-2, Radiographer-3, Photographer-1, Artist-1, Physical Direction-1, Electricians-4, Plumber- 2, Carpenter-1, Meson-1, A.C. Tech-1, Helpers Electrical-3, Sweepers & Scavengers-9, Attenders-18, Security Personal-5, Dept. Secretaries- 5, Driver-1, Nurses-2, Lab. Technicians-4.
21. Central Library: not available any journal. Indian Journals: No International Journals: No
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Back Volumes: No Journal Room: No separate room (one big hall only) Computer/ Internet Room: No Room for librarian: No
22. There are following deficiencies of Major Equipments in various departments: Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge: Extra oral/ Intra oral trace-2, Preheating furnace-1, Surveying unit-1, Deflasking unit-4, Hydraulic press-2, Vacuum mixing maching-1, Curing pressure pot-1, Porcelain Furnace- 1, Vibrator-2, Sand blasting unit-1, Model Trimmer-1, Geyser-2, H.P. Grinder with suction-1, Heavy duty lathe-2, Phantom Heads-50, Pre- clinical working tables-100. Ceramic and Cast Partial Laboratory: Pindex System- 1, Circular saw-1, Model Trimmer with Carborandum disc-1, Model Trimmer with Diamond disc-1, Induction casting machine-1, Programmable porcelain furnace with vacuum pump with instrument kit and material kit-1, Vacuum mixing maching-1, Spindle Grinder 24,000 RPM with vacuum suction-1, Curing pressure pot-1, Milling machine-1, Palatal trimmer-1, Micro surveyor-1, Pre-clinical Prosthetics Laboratory (Work table preferably complete stainless steel fitted with light, Bunsen burner, air blower, working stool)-60 (deficient), Adequate number of lab micro motor with attached hand piece-20, Plaster room for Pre-Clinical Work: Vibrator-2, Model Trimmer-1, Carborandum Disc-1, Diamond disc-1. Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics: Dental Chairs and Unit-33, Glass bead sterilizers-4, Vibrator- 2, Intra-oral X-ray Unit-Radiation safety not there, injectable gutta percha-1, Phantom Lab Unit-60. Chemical Laboratory: Model Trimmer Carborandum disc.-1, Model Trimmer Diamond disc-1, Spindle Grinder-1, Vibrator-2, Burnout furnace-1, Porcelain furnace-1, Sand blasint machine-1, Lab Airrotor-1, Pindex System-1, Circular Saw-1, Vacuum mixer-1, Pneumatic chisel-1.
23. Staff Quarters (Separate from Hostel): Principal Bungalow- not occupied and Quarters for staff not occupied.
No. of equipped common rooms: None No. of messes: only one
24. Boys Hostel:- 4 seater boys hostel. 7
25. As per Hospital Attachment only clinical facility provided to the proposed dental college.”
5. The recommendation for disapproval of the scheme by
the second Respondent was accepted by the first Respondent
on 30.05.2018. The first Petitioner approached the High Court
of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana seeking a direction to
Respondent No.1 and 2 herein to consider his representation
dated 28.05.2018 for grant of permission to establish a new
dental college. By an order dated 07.06.2018, the High Court
directed the first Respondent to consider the representation
dated 28.05.2018 in accordance with law. The first
Respondent reconsidered the matter as per the directions of
the High Court and reiterated that the first Petitioner is not
entitled to start a new dental college for the year 2018-2019
by an order dated 26.06.2018. 6. We have heard Mr. Shyam Divan, learned Senior Counsel
appearing for the Petitioners, Ms. Pinky Anand, learned
Additional Solicitor General for the Union of India and Mr.
Gaurav Sharma, learned Advocate for the Dental Council of
India. Mr. Divan submitted that the recommendation by the
second Respondent for disapproval of the scheme of the first
Petitioner to start a dental college and the acceptance of the
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said recommendation by the first Respondent are in flagrant
violation of Section 10 A (3) (a) and 10 (4) of the Indian
Medical Council Act, 1956. He contended that no opportunity
was given to the Petitioners to rectify the deficiencies pointed
out in the inspection conducted on 22nd and 23rd March, 2018.
He also urged that the first Respondent failed to provide a
hearing to the first Petitioner before disapproval of the scheme
for starting a new dental college. He relied upon a judgment
of this Court in Royal Medical Trust v. Union of India,
(2015) 10 SCC 19 in support of his contention. Mr. Divan
urged that the dispute pertaining to the affiliation to a
Government Hospital has been settled and Vels Education
Society has withdrawn the Writ Petition filed by it in the High
Court of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. According to him,
there is no dispute about the Petitioner No.1 being the only
college affiliated to the Government Medical Hospital,
Nizamabad at present. He further submitted that all the
deficiencies pointed out in the inspection have been rectified
and he requested for a direction to Respondent No.2 to
conduct another inspection to verify whether the deficiencies
still exist. He also submitted that huge investment has been
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made on the dental college and the Petitioners would suffer
immense hardship unless permission is granted to start the
dental college for the academic session 2018-2019. 7. The learned Additional Solicitor General submitted that
the Hearing Committee of the Union of India fairly considered
the representation of the Petitioners and sent the matter back
to the second Respondent for review in January, 2018. As
gross deficiencies have been pointed out by the second
Respondent on the basis of inspection conducted on 22nd and
23rd March, 2018, the recommendation for disapproval of the
scheme of the first Petitioner was accepted by the first
Respondent. She stated that there was no requirement of
giving an opportunity at every stage and in view of the
personal hearing given to the first Petitioner in January, 2018,
there was no necessity of another opportunity to be given by
the first Respondent before passing a final order. She further
submitted that there are time lines fixed in the schedule which
cannot be violated as per the judgments of this Court.
According to her, the first Petitioner is not entitled for any
relief as the last date for grant of approval by the Union of
India was 31.05.2018. Mr.Gaurav Sharma urged that the Writ
Petition warrants dismissal as the Petitioners are not entitled 10
for the relief claimed for. He stated that the deficiencies
pointed out have not been cured. By referring to the material
placed on record by the Petitioners, he submitted that there is
large scale shortage of clinical material. He also contended
that the settlement arrived at between the first Petitioner and
Vels Education Society was only last week. At the time of
consideration of his proposal by the Respondents, the first
Petitioner was not entitled for permission to start a dental
college as it was not the only college affiliated to Government
Hospital. He supported the Additional Solicitor General by
stating that the first Petitioner was not entitled for an
opportunity after the inspection was held in view of the fact
that an oral hearing was given by the Union of India before
sending the matter back to the Dental Council of India in
January, 2018. 8. Section 10 (A) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and
the relevant Regulations framed under Section 33 of the Act
were considered by this Court in Royal Medical Trust (supra)
in which it was held as follows:
“30. In the light of the aforesaid facets, namely, that the scheme under Section 10-A may itself contemplate stage- wise achievement of annual targets and the requirements of reasonable opportunity to be afforded not only at the
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initial stage but also in cases of subsequent renewal and further that the opportunity must be afforded at both the stages, namely, by MCI as well as by the Central Government, the Schedule under the Regulations must accommodate and provide for adequate time-limits to take care of such eventualities. The Schedule which was brought in force by way of an amendment dated 21-9-2012 unfortunately does not provide for such stage-wise consideration. It simply gives four stages without indicating any time-limits to ensure grant of such reasonable opportunity in case the decisions of disapproval are taken against the applicants. It also does not speak of any compliance verification. The pattern that emerges in the present cases is common and consistent in that the inspections were undertaken in and around April/May 2014 and the letters of disapproval were sent by the Central Government on or about 15-7-2014. Though the compliance was reported, no verification in that behalf was undertaken.
31. MCI and the Central Government have been vested with monitoring powers under Section 10-A and the Regulations. It is expected of these authorities to discharge their functions well within the statutory confines as well as in conformity with the Schedule to the Regulations. If there is inaction on their part or non-observance of the time schedule, it is bound to have adverse effect on all concerned. The affidavit filed on behalf of the Union of India shows that though the number of seats had risen, obviously because of permissions granted for establishment of new colleges, because of disapproval of renewal cases the resultant effect was net loss in terms of number of seats available for the academic year. It thus not only caused loss of opportunity to the students community but at the same time caused loss to the society in terms of less number of doctors being available. MCI and the Central Government must therefore show due diligence right from the day when the applications are received. The Schedule giving various stages and time-limits must accommodate every possible eventuality and at the same time must comply with the requirements of observance of natural justice at various levels. In our view the Schedule must ideally take care of:
(A) Initial assessment of the application at the first level should comprise of checking necessary requirements such
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as essentiality certificate, consent for affiliation and physical features like land and hospital requirement. If an applicant fails to fulfil these requirements, the application on the face of it, would be incomplete and be rejected. Those who fulfil the basic requirements would be considered at the next stage.
(B) Inspection should then be conducted by the Inspectors of MCI. By very nature such inspection must have an element of surprise. Therefore sufficient time of about three to four months ought to be given to MCI to cause inspection at any time and such inspection should normally be undertaken latest by January. Surprise inspection would ensure that the required facilities and infrastructure are always in place and not borrowed or put in temporarily.
(C) Intimation of the result or outcome of the inspection would then be communicated. If the infrastructure and facilities are in order, the medical college concerned should be given requisite permission/renewal. However, if there are any deficiencies or shortcomings, MCI must, after pointing out the deficiencies, grant to the college concerned sufficient time to report compliance.
(D) If compliance is reported and the applicant states that the deficiencies stand removed, MCI must cause compliance verification. It is possible that such compliance could be accepted even without actual physical verification but that assessment be left entirely to the discretion of MCI and the Central Government. In cases where actual physical verification is required, MCI and the Central Government must cause such verification before the deadline.
(E) The result of such verification if positive in favour of the medical college concerned, the applicant ought to be given requisite permission/renewal. But if the deficiencies still persist or had not been removed, the applicant will stand disentitled so far as that academic year is concerned.
11. The recommendation of the first Respondent for
disapproval of the scheme of the first Petitioner by its letter
dated 29.12.2017 to the second Respondent pertained to the
initial assessment of the application at the first level. Having 13
been satisfied with the explanation of the first Petitioner during
the hearing held on 17.01.2018, the first Respondent directed
the second Respondent to review the proposal of the first
Petitioner for starting a new dental college for the academic
session 2018-2019. It is relevant to mention that no
inspection of the college was done at that stage. The only
inspection that was done was on 22nd and 23rd March, 2018.
The first Petitioner was entitled for an opportunity to report
compliance after the deficiencies were communicated to it.
Admittedly, no such opportunity was afforded by the second
Respondent. Consequently, the Dental Council of India did not
also call for compliance verification. No opportunity was given
by the first Respondent to the first Petitioner before
disapproving the scheme of the first Petitioner. We do not see
any substance in the submissions made on behalf of the
Respondents that there was no requirement of an opportunity
to be given to the first Petitioner. The only inspection that
was conducted in this case was on 22nd and 23rd March, 2018
and according to the judgment of this Court in Royal Medical
Trust (supra), the first Petitioner was entitled for an
opportunity to rectify the deficiencies pointed out in the
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inspection and a further hearing before a final order was
passed by the first Respondent. 12. Having held that the letter dated 27.04.2018 of the first
Respondent recommending disapproval of the scheme of first
Petitioner to start a dental college and the order dated
28.06.2018 of the first Respondent are in flagrant violation of
Section 10 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, it is
necessary to decide as to whether the first Petitioner is
entitled for a direction for re-inspection to enable it to make
admissions for the academic session 2018-2019. 13. The time schedule for the receipt of the applications for
establishment of new dental colleges and processing them by
the Central Government is as follows:
Sl. No.
State of processing Last Date
1. Receipt of applications by the Central Government
Between 15thJune to 7thJuly (both days inclusive) of any year
2. Forwarding of applications by the Central Government to Dental Council of India
By 31stJuly
3. Technical Scrutiny, Assessment and Recommendations by the Dental Council of India
By 31stDecember
4. Receipt of reply/ compliance from the applicant by the Central Government and for personal hearing thereto, if any and forwarding of compliance by the Central Government to the Dental Council of India
Two months from receipt of recommendation from DCI but not after 31stJanuary.
5. Final recommendation by the Dental Council of India
By 30thApril
6. Issue of Letter of Permission by the By 31stMay 15
Central Government 7. Commencement of academic session/
term 1stof August
8. Last date upto which students can be admitted/ Joined against stray vacancies arising due to any reason
By 15thSeptember
14. The time schedule for receipt of application for opening of
higher courses of study/increase of post graduate
seats/renewal of permission and processing of the applications
by the Central Government and the Dental Council of India is
as follows:
SI. No.
Stage of proceeding Last Date
1. Receipt of applications by the Central Government.
Between 15th March to 7th April (both days inclusive of any year)
2. Forwarding of applications by the Central Government to Dental Council of India.
By 30th April
3. Technical Scrutiny, Assessment and Recommendations by the Dental Council of India.
By 15th October
4. Receipt of reply/compliance from the applicant by the Central Government and for personal hearing thereto, if any and forwarding of compliance by the Central Government to the Dental Council of India.
Two months from receipt of recommendation from DCI but not after 15th November
5. Final recommendations by the Dental Council of India.
By 31st January
6. Issue of letter of permission by the Central Government.
By 28th February
7. Commencement of academic session/term.
1st May
8. Last date up to which students can be admitted/Joined against stray vacancies arising due to any reason.
By 31st May
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15. The last date for grant of permission by the Central
Government was 31.05.2018 and commencement of academic
session is 01.08.2018. A time schedule for completion of the
admission process for first BDS Course for the academic
session 2018-2019 was issued by a notification of the second
Respondent on 11.06.2018. According to the schedule, the first
round of State Counselling was scheduled to be held between
25th June to 5th July and the second counselling is to be held
between 15th July to 26th July. 16. The notification issued by the Dental Council of India with
previous sanction of the Central Government prescribing the
time schedule for receipt of applications for establishment of
new medical colleges and processing the applications was
approved by this Court in Ashish Ranjan v. Union of India
(2016)11 SCC 225. 17. After holding that the Respondents acted in violation of
Section 10 A (3) (a) and Section 4 by not affording an
opportunity to the Petitioner No.1, we proceed to examine
whether the Petitioners are entitled for the relief claimed in
this Writ Petition. The final order relating to the relief may be
different and not a natural consequence of the ratio decidendi
of the judgment. This may happen either on account of a
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subsequent event or the need to mould the relief to do the
complete justice in the matter. See: Sanjay Singh v. U.P.
Public Service Commission (2007) 3 SCC 720 and U.P.
Public Service Commission v. Manoj Kumar Yadav & Anr.
(2018) 3 SCC 706. It has been repeatedly held by this
Court that the schedule prescribed by the Dental Council of
India is binding on all concerned and should not be ordinarily
relaxed. Any direction given by us in this case would
necessarily involve relaxation of the time lines mentioned in
the schedule. We are not inclined to do that in this case as the
Petitioners are also responsible for the delay caused in
consideration of their proposal to start a new dental college.
Initially, they did not furnish the required information sought
by the second Respondent regarding the land and buildings
which resulted in the recommendation of disapproval of the
scheme proposed by them. If they complied with the direction
for submission of the relevant documents sought by the
Respondent No.2, the inspection of the college would have
been conducted as scheduled in December, 2017 itself.
Further delay was caused due to the order passed in the Writ
Petition filed by the Petitioners in the High Court of Telangana
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and Andhra Pradesh by which Respondent No.1 was directed to
consider the representation made on 28.05.2018. Further, the
settlement between the Petitioners and Vels Education Society
regarding the affiliation to the Government Medical College
and Hospital was reached only last week. In the facts and
circumstances mentioned above, we are not inclined to give
any direction to the Respondents to consider the proposal of
the Petitioner No.1 to start a new dental college for this
academic session by relaxing the schedule issued by the
Dental Council of India. 18. For the aforementioned reasons, the Writ Petition is
disposed of.
......................................J. [S.A. BOBDE]
......................................J.
[L. NAGESWARA RAO] New Delhi, August 21, 2018.
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