SANTOSH TRUST Vs. NATIONAL MEDICAL COMMISSION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India assails the disapproval letters issued by the respondent no.1/National Medical Commission (hereinafter referred to as 'NMC ') rejecting the petitioners ' request for grant of permission for increase of seats in the petitioner no.2 college in the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (hereinafter referred to as 'MBBS ') course as also in post-graduate courses of MS (Obstetrics and Gynaecology) and MS (Orthopaedics). The petitioners also assail the order dtd. 22/12/2021 vide which the respondents have directed an interim inspection of the petitioner no.2 college for continuation of its existing recognition for 100 MBBS seats.

(2.) The petitioner no.1 (formerly known as the Maharaji Educational Trust) is a trust which runs and manages a group of medical, dental, paramedical, and paradental colleges/institutions in the National Capital Region, including the petitioner no.2, a medical educational institute, offering MBBS course and post-graduate courses like MD, MS, M.Sc. and Ph.D. On 13/6/2007, the petitioner no.2, along with the Santosh Dental College, Ghaziabad, which college is also managed by the petitioner no.1 trust, was on the recommendations of the University Grants Commission ( 'UGC '), granted the status of a 'Deemed to be University ' by the Central Government, which university is known as the Santosh University.

(3.) The respondent no.1/NMC, constituted under the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (hereinafter referred to as the 'NMC Act '), was set up in place of the erstwhile Medical Council of India (hereinafter referred to as 'MCI ') with an aim to inter alia improve access to quality and affordable medical education, ensure availability of adequate and high-quality medical professionals in all parts of the country, and objectively assess the medical institutions periodically in a transparent manner. The respondent no.2/Medical Assessment and Rating Board (hereinafter referred to as 'MARB ') is an autonomous board set up by the NMC for the purpose of assessing and rating medical institutions to ensure compliance with the standards laid down by the Under Graduate ( 'UG ') as well as the Post Graduate ( 'PG ') Medical Education Boards constituted as per the regulations under the NMC Act.