Medical College Petition Challenging PG Seat Sharing Regulation Disposed of as Infructuous by Madras High Court

Chennai: The Madras High Court has disposed of a batch of writ petitions filed by private medical colleges in Puducherry challenging the constitutional validity of a regulation governing the sharing of postgraduate medical seats. The challenge was rendered infructuous following the introduction of new regulations by the relevant authorities.

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Mr. Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy heard the petitions filed by Pondicherry Institute of Medical Sciences, Sri Venkateswara Medical College Hospital and Research Centre, and Sri Manakula Vinayagar Medical College and Hospital .

The petitions, originally filed in 2018, specifically targeted Regulation 9(7) of the Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000, as amended by the 2018 Amendment Regulations. This particular clause stipulated that in Non-Governmental medical colleges/institutions, 50% of the total seats shall be filled by the state government or its appointed authority , while the remaining 50% would be filled by the colleges based on merit from the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET).

The petitioners had sought a declaration that Regulation 9(7) was unconstitutional, invalid, arbitrary, and ultra vires, arguing that it violated their fundamental rights and the principles laid down by the Supreme Court in the landmark P.A. Inamdar case . They contended that forcing a 50% government quota on private unaided institutions infringed upon their autonomy in admissions.

During the hearing on January 8, 2024, the learned counsel representing the Medical Council of India (now succeeded by the National Medical Commission) informed the Court that new Regulations have been introduced on December 29, 2023, which supersede the earlier Regulations, including the challenged 2018 amendment.

Following this submission, the learned counsel for the petitioners conceded that the challenge raised in their writ petitions against the superseded regulation would now be rendered infructuous.

In light of this development, the Court held that the subject matter of the petitions no longer exists. Consequently, the writ petitions were disposed of without entering into the merits of the constitutional challenge to the 2018 regulation. The Court also stated there would be no order as to costs.

This disposal means that the legal questions surrounding the validity of the 2018 Regulation 9(7) concerning the 50% government quota in private medical colleges remain unanswered by the High Court, as the regulatory landscape has changed. Future admissions and seat-sharing arrangements will now be governed by the new Regulations notified in December 2023.

The case highlights how legislative or regulatory changes during the pendency of litigation can impact the outcome, sometimes rendering complex legal challenges obsolete before a judicial determination on the merits can be made.

(W.P.Nos. 9113, 10756 & 9592 of 2018, Order dated 08.01.2024)