Summary
The Supreme Court set aside an interim order permitting provisional MBBS admissions at NC Medical College for 2018–19 despite unresolved inspection deficiencies. Notice to students that admissions depended on litigation did not adequately protect their careers. The pending writ petition’s factual merits remained entirely open for the High Court’s final determination.
Issues
- Whether the High Court could allow provisional medical admissions by interim order while approval and inspection compliance remained disputed.
Held
- Repeated failures to remove deficiencies made interim admission permission inappropriate without satisfactory physical verification. The March assessment was document-based; later physical verification could not be treated as invalid merely because the earlier review had identified only three areas. (¶¶ 6, 8, 9, 11, 12)
- Making admissions subject to litigation and warning students did not provide sufficient protection. If permission later failed, other colleges might have no vacancies, causing lost academic years and serious hardship. Courts could expedite verification or final hearing rather than expose students to those consequences. (¶¶ 12, 13)
- The High Court’s provisional-admissions order was inconsistent with the Court’s precedents on interim approval of professional institutions and could not stand. (¶¶ 13, 14)
- The narrated history did not decide the disputed factual merits of the pending writ petition, which the High Court must assess independently and could hear expeditiously if warranted. (¶ 15)
Result
Appeal allowed; High Court interim order dated 29 May 2018 set aside. Pending writ petition to be decided on its own merits, with no factual determination by this judgment. No costs.