Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University Vs. SVS Educational and Social Trust - (Supreme Court) (12 Nov 2018)

When consent to affiliation is subject to approval from Central Government, request for continuance of provisional affiliation cannot be granted

MANU/SC/1271/2018

Education

The request of the First Respondent for continuance of provisional affiliation for admission of students in Bachelor of Homeopathy Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) degree course for the academic year 2016-2017 was rejected by the Appellant. In a Writ Petition filed by the First Respondent assailing the said order, the High Court directed the Appellant to permit the First Respondent to participate in the counselling for admission to Homeopathic Colleges for the academic year 2017-2018. The Division Bench of the High Court of Madras upheld the said interim order. Hence, present Appeal.

The First Respondent-University does not have the requisite approval from the Central Government as provided in Section 12A of the Homeopathy Central Council Act, 1973. As the consent to affiliation was granted subject to the approval from the Central Government for the period of one year, the request made by the First Respondent for continuance of provisional affiliation was rightly rejected by the Appellant.

As the First Respondent did not have provisional affiliation, there was no question of continuance of the provisional affiliation to the First Respondent. The First Respondent is not entitled for the relief that was granted by the High Court for admission of students to the first BHMS degree course for the academic year 2017-2018 as it has neither approval from the Central Government nor affiliation from the Appellant.

The Division Bench ought not to have granted the relief without deciding whether the First Respondent had the requisite approval from the Central Government to start a College. The order of the High Court is set aside and the appeal is allowed.

Tags : PROVISIONAL AFFILIATION CONTINUATION GRANT