SC sets aside HC order which allowed re-inspection of Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College to increase seats

New Delhi [India], February 14 : The Supreme Court on Monday set aside two orders of the Aurangabad bench of Bombay High Court which allowed re-inspection of Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College after the National Medical Commission cancelled college plea to increase intake of medical students.
"The High Court has not dealt with the merits of the rival contentions. Hence, it would be inappropriate to enter upon the merits of the dispute, for the first time, in proceedings under Article 136 of the Constitution. The High Court having not dealt with the merits of the rival contentions, we set aside the impugned orders
of the High Court dated 25 January 2022 and 2 February 2022 and restore Writ Petition No 1280 of 2022 for admission before the High Court," said a bench of Justices Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant, which directed the Bombay High Court to take up the petition.
"All the rights and contentions of the parties are kept open to be urged before the High Court. Having regard to the urgency of the matter in view of the impending counselling for medical admissions, we request the High Court to take up the petition with all reasonable despatch," the Court said.
During the hearing, the Court also noted falsifying records by the hospital and compared it with the example of Bollywood Munnabhai MBBS.
The Court noted that inspection report conducted by NMC where it showed that the children admitted in the paediatric ward did not have any problem.
The Court asked the counsel that have you seen the Munnabhai MBBS movie, where the hospital in movie had admitted fake patients.
The National Medical Commission, as well as the Medical College, were before the Court, aggrieved by an order of a Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, at its Bench at Aurangabad, dated January 25, 2022.
The Medical College was established in 1992 with an annual intake capacity of 100 seats for the MBBS course. The Medical College submitted an application on November 30, 2020 for an increase in the intake capacity from 100 to 150 MBBS seats for the academic year 2021-22. On July 15, 2021, renewal of recognition was granted for the academic year 2021-22 with the condition that the continuation of recognition would be in accordance with law.
The Medical College submitted an undertaking on November 23, 2021, following which on November 25, 2021, permission was granted for increase in the intake capacity from 100 to 150 seats. On January 14, 2022, a surprise inspection was conducted of the Medical College.
Based on the report of the inspection, on January 19, 2022, the Medical Assessment and Rating Board withdrew the letter of permission for increase in the intake capacity and directed a stoppage of the admissions for 2021-22.
The High Court, by its order dated January 25, 2022, gave an option to the Medical College either to agree to a re-inspection or to avail of the appellate remedy.
The order of the High Court has been challenged by NMC on the ground that the impugned order does not notice the provisions of the National Medical Commission Act 2019.NMC said that this order was passed on the first day of hearing, without calling for a reply to the writ petition.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing on behalf of the NMC urged that in substitution of a surprise inspection, the Division Bench has fixed an appointed date for inspection, which defeats the purpose.
The Solicitor General has also adverted to serious deficiencies which were noticed in the inspection report, including falsification of records and admitting false patients at the time of admission.
Senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi with Nidhesh Gupta appeared on behalf of the Medical College.
The companion appeals have been filed by the Medical College. The Medical College filed a Civil Application, before the High Court for modification of the order of January 25, 2022 on the ground that the submissions which were urged before the High Court were not recorded or dealt with. The High Court disposed of the Civil Application on February 2, 2022, noting that it had not recorded the "entire arguments" advanced by the counsel for the parties since it was suggested by the Court that the directions can be given for re-inspection. The High Court also noted that counsel for the Medical College had agreed to the option of a fresh inspection.