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The Supreme Court on Thursday issued notice on an MBBS student's plea seeking direction asking Chettinad Academy of Research and Education to grant her course completion certificate and MBBS Degree Certificate without insisting on repayment of the fee which was seized by the NIA for alleged terror links.

A bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta will hear the matter on 13th October. 

The SLP has been filed by a student named Puja Kumari, against the order of a division bench of the Madras High Court, which upheld a Single Judge order refusing to direct the college and medical council authorities to release her course completion certificate and MBBS degree.

The fee paid by the student during her MBBS course was seized by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), on the ground that the fee was funded through Maoist activities. 

During the student's tenure, Rs 1,13,70,500/- was periodically remitted to her account. Later, during the course of a criminal investigation, the NIA alleged that the funds utilized to pay the student's fee were directly derived from illegal, extorted funds raised on behalf of the Communist Party of India (Maoist), a proscribed terrorist organization.

The NIA seized the funds after notice to the college. The college then withheld the student's documents over non-realisation of legitimate institutional fee.

The student argued that educational certificates could not be retained as security or treated like financial deposits under general lien. She also denied any personal involvement or connection with any unlawful or terrorist organisation and pointed out that she had a clean, impeccable record and had cleared her medical curriculum without any blemish.

The Madras High Court Division Bench rejected her appeal seeking course completion, observing that if the student was in fact innocent, she could approach the Special NIA Court for releasing the seized funds. The court added that the college could not be expected to litigate against the NIA to retrieve the fee.

The High Court added that while the student may not be an accused in the NIA case, she could not claim an equitable right to benefit from the fruits of crime. Once the course fee was seized by the NIA, the student's account with the college would become legally defaulted to an unpaid status. The High Court noted that forcing the college to release the certificate, when it has, in effect, not received any fee from the student, would be a gross miscarriage of justice.

The High Court noted that the charge sheet submitted by the NIA had named the student's immediate family members, including her brother and paternal uncle as key operational masterminds raising extorted funds for a banned terrorist outfit. It observed that the Single Judge's order had rightly protected the financial autonomy of the college, leaving it open for the student to deposit the requisite fee afresh and claim her certificates. Thus, finding no reason to interfere, the High Court dismissed the appeal.

The Supreme Court will now hear the SLP against the High Court Division Bench order.

Case: SLP(C) No. 29658/2026 Diary No. 43833 / 2026 PUJA KUMARI Vs UNION OF INDIA

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