Supreme Court Extends Deemed Affiliation To Hamdard Medical Institute For 2026-27, Clears Path For 150 MBBS And 49 PG Seats

The Supreme Court recently allowed the Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (HIMSR) to proceed with admissions to 150 MBBS seats and 49 postgraduate medical seats for the academic year 2026-27.

A bench of Justice BV Nagarathna and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan held that the consent of affiliation shall be deemed to have been granted by Jamia Hamdard Deemed to be University, subject to the outcome of the ongoing dispute between two branches of the Hamdard family.

“Consequently, in continuation of our earlier order dated 11.02.2026, we observe that the Consent of Affiliation is deemed to have been granted by the first respondent-University in favour of the third petitioner-institution subject to the result of this Special Leave Petition for the academic year 2026-2027. This is particularly in respect of 150 seats of MBBS and 49 seats post-graduate seats for the very same academic year, namely, 2026-2027”, the Court stated.

The Court passed the order on May 27 in a plea seeking directions for issuance of enrolment numbers to 49 postgraduate students, restoration of access to the National Medical Commission (NMC) portal, and grant of consent of affiliation for the 2026-27 academic year.

The dispute concerns the management and status of HIMSR following a family settlement that divided control over institutions operating under the Hamdard umbrella. Jamia Hamdard subsequently withdrew consent of affiliation to HIMSR, citing objections under the UGC Act and the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2023.

The matter reached the Supreme Court in January 2026 when counselling for postgraduate medical admissions was about to begin. At that stage, the Court directed the NMC to include 49 postgraduate seats of HIMSR in the counselling matrix for the academic year 2025-26 so that the seats did not go vacant.

Subsequently, on February 11, 2026, after 49 students were admitted through the counselling process, the Court deemed consent of affiliation to have been granted in favour of the institute, subject to the outcome of the case. The latest order extends similar protection for admissions during the academic year 2026-27.

During the hearing last week, Senior Advocate Dhruv Mehta for the petitioners submitted that unless access to the NMC portal was restored and affiliation-related issues were resolved, HIMSR would be unable to fill its 150 MBBS seats for the 2026-27 academic year.

Senior Advocate P. Chidambaram for Jamia Hamdard stated that the university would not stand in the way of orders being passed in the interest of students, while raising concerns regarding compliance with certain UGC Regulations, observations of an Expert Committee and issues flagged in a CAG report.

The petitioners undertook to maintain separate accounts for MBBS admissions, furnish details of fees and payments to the university and address the concerns raised.

Taking note of the submissions, the Court directed issuance of enrolment numbers to 49 postgraduate students, restoration of access to the NMC portal and acceptance of the institute's disclosure reports.

It further held that, in continuation of its February 11, 2026 order, consent of affiliation shall be deemed to have been granted by Jamia Hamdard in favour of HIMSR for the academic year 2026-27, subject to the outcome of the special leave petition.

The Court said the order was being passed in view of the peculiar facts of the case arising from an arbitral dispute between two branches of the Hamdard family.

Case no. – Special Leave to Appeal (C) No. 3280/2026

Case Title – Asad Mueed & Ors. v. Jamia Hamdard Deemed To Be University & Ors.