Supreme Court Allows Students Of Derecognized College Of Physicians & Surgeons Mumbai To Appear For Exams

The Supreme Court today(September 16) directed the authorities to conduct exams for 962 students who completed their course long back but couldn't appear for the examination after the Bombay High Court upheld the derecognition of all postgraduate medical courses offered by the College of Physicians and Surgeons, Mumbai ("CPS").

It may be recalled that subsequent to the derecognition of the CPS, petitions were filed by various categories of students. Subsequently, the Supreme Court requested the Attorney General for India, R Venkataramani, to intervene and arrive at a "viable solution" to secure the future of students.

By order of November 13, 2025, the Court divided the aggrieved students into three categories whose interests have been addressed. Category I comprises 852 students who were enrolled up to the 2022-2023 academic year; Category II comprises 239 students enrolled in academic year 2023-2024 onwards and the last category comprises students who were enrolled prior to 2022-2023. While the Court allowed category I students to sit for the final examination, it didn't extend relief to category II because these students were unauthorised admissions. The interest of category III was also met.

Today, Senior Advocates Vikas Singh and Vibha Datta Makhija pointed out that there are category IV students who have also completed their course but haven't appeared for the examination. A bench comprising Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice K Vinod Chandran granted relief to them by allowing them to appear for examination.

It ordered: " Our order dated 13 November 2025 is relevant for the purpose of the order we propose to pass today. As per our order referred to above, we classified the students into three categories. We have also recorded in our order dated November 13 that all students in the interest of all students in category I are well protected. We have also recorded students falling in category II, the CPS has admitted them despite the letter from the Ministry of Health and Welfare.

So far as students in category III, they have completed their course long back. Today, we have 962 students falling in category IV. They have also completed the course, but all that is left is the examination. Irrespective of the merits of the matter, insofar as the challenge to the High Court's order, we will hear them and decide the legality on its own merits. However, we firmly believe that students should be relieved from this. In such cases, we direct that students from category IV be permitted to appear in the exam, which may be fixed by the authority. Let them fix and inform the students. We make it clear that these 962 students shall be permitted to appear in exam despite any objection from the National Medical Commission. In peculiar facts and circumstances, we have passed this matter. The main matter shall be notified next Wednesday for final appearing. Needless to clarify the exams are for all four category of students. We further make it clear that there shall not be further admission til we decide the petition in the petitioner's college."