Not Permissible To Dilute Time Schedule Of Medical Courses Under Article 226 In Absence Of Any Justifiable Reason: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has observed that no dilution of the time schedule with respect to medical courses, which is mandatory and binding on all, is permissible in exercise of writ jurisdiction under Article 226 of the Constitution of India in absence of any justifiable reason.

“Undoubtedly, medical education requires facilities and infrastructure of the highest standard as also the adherence to the time schedule for imparting premier education to candidates, thereby ensuring that the community receives the best possible medical practitioners,” Justice Purushaindra Kumar Kaurav said.

The court made the observations while dismissing a plea moved by Sri Satya Sai University of Technology and Medical Sciences challenging an order passed by the Union Government affirming the order of Medical Assessment & Rating Board of National Medical Commission rejecting the varsity’s request for establishment of a new medical college for the academic year 2023-24 in absence any application made by it.

It was the University’s case that the approach of the authorities was erroneous as they did not consider the fact that the filing of application in hardcopy was well within time and that once the application fee was accepted and hardcopy was acknowledged, there was no reason for not considering the same.

The counsel representing the respondent authorities took a stand that the fact that the varsity in question did not make any effort to submit the online application once its status was consistently shown to be “in progress” could have been a deliberate move. It was contended that the same could have been for the reason that the University was aware that the documents were not complete or the infrastructure was not ready and therefore, it wanted to avoid immediate inspection.

Rejecting the plea, the Court said that sufficient time was available with the University to complete the process of online submission of application which was admittedly not done.

Justice Kaurav also noted that no explanation was offered by the varsity as to why such a recourse was not taken and that instead, the hard copy was submitted which was held to be not acceptable.

“The schedule that has been set by apex bodies in their fields, especially in professional course such as MBBS, has evidently been set in a manner so as to account for the time that is to be taken in undertaking the steps in those stages in a satisfactory manner. The stage of inspection, for a medical college, in particular, is perhaps the most important stage,” the court said.

It added, “To allow the internal timeline for inspection to be tampered with, leading to a hasty inspection, would have the undesired consequence of affecting the kind of education the medical professionals of this country receive. This court cannot allow that to be a reality. This court has a duty to use its discretionary powers sparingly, in only the choicest of cases.”

Title: SRI SATYA SAI UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY AND MEDICAL SCIENCES SEHORE v. UNION OF INDIA & ORS.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 685

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