NATIONAL MEDICAL COMMISSION Vs. PRINCIPAL, KMCT MEDICAL COLLEGE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The respondents in W.P.(C)No.15748 of 2026, namely, the National Medical Commission, represented by its Secretary, and the Postgraduate Medical Assessment and Rating Board of the National Medical Commission, represented by its Secretary, have filed this writ appeal, invoking the provisions under Sec. 5(i) of the Kerala High Court Act, 1958, challenging the judgment dtd. 9/6/2026 of the learned Single Judge in that writ petition, which was one filed by the respondent herein, who is the Principal of KMCT Medical College, Mukkom, a Self-Financing Medical College established in the academic year 2008-09, having 250 seats for MBBS Course, apart from 23 PG Medical Courses. The said writ petition was filed by the respondent herein, invoking the extraordinary jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, seeking a writ of mandamus commanding the respondents (appellants herein) to open their portal/or provide the link forthwith, so as to enable the petitioner to apply for approval of enhancement of PG seats from 7 to 11 in MD Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, for the academic year 2026-27, if necessary by extending the last date of submission of application; a writ of mandamus commanding the respondents to permit the petitioner to apply or accept the application for approval of increase of PG seats from 7 to 11 in MD Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, for the academic year 2026-27; a declaration that the petitioner is entitled to apply for increase of PG seats from 7 to 11 in MD Dermatology, Venereology, and Leprosy, for the academic year 2026-27; and to direct the 2nd respondent Postgraduate Medical Assessment and Rating Board of the 1st respondent the National Medical Commission to accept the application for enhancement of seats in MD Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, for the academic year 2026-27, and to process the application without further delay.

(2.) The National Medical Commission (NMC) issued Ext.P1 notification dtd. 27/2/2026, inviting online applications through its web portal for starting new Post Graduate Medical Courses in an established Medical Institution, establishing a new standalone Post Graduate Medical Institution and increase of seats in existing Post Graduate Medical Courses for the academic year 2026-27, enclosing therewith a public notice dtd. 27/2/2026 issued by the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB). As per the public notice, only online applications submitted on the official NMC web portal will be considered. The online application portal shall be active from 2/3/2026 to 31/3/2026. The last date for submitting the completed application shall be 31/3/2026 before 11.59 p.m. The Medical Institution is instructed to enter the details and upload certified copies of the documents, in PDF format, in the online application form. The documents include valid consent of affiliation from a recognised university, issued in the name of the applicant entity in the prescribed proforma. Thereafter, the NMC issued Ext.P2 public notice dtd. 25/3/2026, whereby the last date for submission of applications was extended up to 20/4/2026, till 11.59 p.m., in order to provide adequate time to the stakeholders to submit applications in accordance with the amendments to the regulatory framework notified on 12/3/2026, which have come into force with immediate effect, and are applicable for the academic year 2026-27.

(3.) Going by the averments in W.P.(C)No.15748 of 2026, the College submitted applications before the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS), pursuant to the notification issued by the University, for consent of affiliation for applying before the NMC to increase seats in the existing PG Medical Courses and also for starting new PG Medical Courses. The University conducted inspection and issued consent of affiliation for various courses. In the case of MD Dermatology, Venereology and Leprosy, the University noted some minor deficiencies. The College cured those deficiencies, reported the matter to the University, and informed the University of the last date prescribed for applying to the NMC. On 20/4/2026, the College submitted details on the web portal in respect of 4 new courses and increase of seats in 11 disciplines, remitted the application fee of more than Rs.94.00 lakhs, and successfully completed the submission of application in the said courses. The document marked as Ext.P3 is a printout of application No.KL/NMC/PG/2026-2027/0419 generated in the NMC web portal on 20/4/2026 at 18.46 hrs. The said application was created on 17/3/2026 at 14.35 hrs.