MP High Court 'Sine Die' Adjourns PIL Alleging Illegal Affiliation Of Paramedical Colleges After Supreme Court's Stay

The Madhya Pradesh High Court, on Wednesday (August 20), adjourned sine die the proceedings in a public interest litigation filed by the Law Students Association alleging irregularities and illegalities in the recognition and admission process of Institutions offering paramedical course. The court passed the order in view of Supreme Court's order last week staying further proceedings before the high court in this matter. Earlier, through an order dated July 16, the High Court had restrained institutes offering paramedical courses that were granted recognition by the State Paramedical Council in 2025 from conducting academic sessions for the years 2023-2024 and 2024-2025. The Supreme Court had on August 1 stayed the high court's interim order. Thereafter on August 7, the High Court had permitted the MP Paramedical Council to submit documents relating to recognition granted to various colleges in a sealed cover in a soft copy. The high court had further directed QCI to inspect Paramedical Colleges and to state that no other institution/establishment being run from the same infrastructure.Meanwhile the Supreme Court in its August 14 order expressed its surprise over the manner in which the high court had passed its order.The Supreme Court noted, "We are surprised at the manner in which the High Court has proceeded to pass the impugned order. In the impugned order, the High Court noticed that not only this Court is seized of the matter by way of SLP(C) No.20721/2025 but this Court has also stayed an earlier order of the High Court dated 16.07.2025 passed in the same proceedings, vide order dated 01.08.2025. However, even after noticing the said facts, the High Court has proceeded to hear the matter and passed the impugned order". Staying the August 7 order and "further proceedings" before the high court in the matter, the Supreme Court had said that under the constitutional scheme both the Supreme Court and the High Courts are organs of the Constitution/Judiciary. It had further said that "as a matter of judicial propriety it is expected of the High Courts that when this Court is seized of the matter and particularly when this Court had stayed the earlier order passed by the High Court, the High Court should not have proceeded further with the hearing of the matter". "When this Court was examining the order passed by the High Court dated 16.07.2025, even after noticing the present proceedings and the order passed by this Court, the approach of the High Court in proceeding to hear the petition and giving further direction, in our view, is not in tune with the scheme under which the constitutional Courts function," the apex court had said. Acknowledging the Supreme Court's order, a division bench of Justice Atul Sreedharan and Justice Pradeep Mittal, in its order said:"However, this Court, regrettably failed to appreciate that when the Hon'ble Supreme Court, vide order dated 01/08/2025 passed in SLP No. 20721/2025, stayed the order dated 16/07/2025 passed by this Court in WP No. 27497/2025, it intended to stay the entire proceedings before this Court in WP No. 20721/2025. This Court, in all humility, wishes to record that it is most cognizant of the hierarchy of Courts and of judicial discipline and is most conscious of the judicial inferiority of this Court viz-a-viz the Supreme Court and would never ever, deliberately, pass an order constituting judicial overreach". Taking note of the Supreme Court's order of August 14, the court said that the interim application (IA No. 15502/2025) filed by the petitioner seeking initiation of perjury proceedings against the Registrar of the Paramedical Council, "cannot go on". "Consequently, proceedings in WP No. 27497/2025 are adjourned sine die," the high court said. The petitioner's counsel had argued today that paramedical council had perjured before the high court by stating falsely that no students were admitted to any of the institutions before affiliation was granted by the MP Medical Science University or any other university. It was stated that the in the SLP before the Supreme Court, the same paramedical counsel has stated that the high court's July 16 order has "jeopardised the future of thousands of students who had taken admission in various paramedical courses across the State". Case Title: LAW STUDENTS ASSOCIATION Vs THE STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS (WP No. 27497 of 2025)Click here to read the Order

MP High Court 'Sine Die' Adjourns PIL Alleging Illegal Affiliation Of Paramedical Colleges After Supreme Court's Stay

Jayanti Pahwa

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