IMPORTANT POINTS
When the expert body certifies that the facilities in a medical college are inadequate, Courts are not equipped to take a different view.
Court should not examine the report as an appellate body
Venturing into adventurist litigation must be checked by imposing exemplary cost.

JUDGMENT :

Madan B. Lokur, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. This appeal is yet another chapter in the sordid saga of admissions to medical colleges. Undoubtedly, there is something rotten in the state of medical colleges. Unless the concerned Ministries in the Government of India take a far more proactive role in ensuring that medical colleges have all the necessary facilities, clinical materials, teaching faculty, staff, accommodation etc. the health of the people of our country will take a hit in the coming years due to inadequately educated doctors. Quality in medical education is equally important, if not more, than quantity.

3. The respondent Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (for short KIMS) is a recognized medical college. It is entitled to admit 100 students every year to the MBBS course.

4. For the academic year 2014-15, it was granted permission to admit an additional 50 students over and above the 100 students that was already its entitlement.

5. KIMS was desirous of granting admission to 100 plus 50 students for the academic year 2015-16. With a view to ensure that adequate facilities were available for the increased number of students, an inspection was required to be carried out by the Medical Council of India (for short ‘the MCI’) in accordance with the Medical Council of India Establishment of Medical College Regulations, 1999.

6. Consequently, an inspection was carried out on 27th and 28th January, 2015 by an Inspection Team of the MCI which revealed quite a sorry state of affairs. A large number of serious deficiencies were pointed out by the Inspection Team and communicated to the MCI. Thereafter, in a communication sent by the MCI to the Dean Principal of KIMS on 31st January, 2015 the deficiencies were indicated and KIMS was informed that a show cause notice was proposed to be issued for withdrawal of recognition of the courses run by it. Be that as it may, the MCI took a decision recommending to the Central Government through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Department of Health and Family Welfare) to deny permission to KIMS to add 50 additional seats for the MBBS for the academic year 2015-16.

7. We enquired from learned counsel for the MCI the procedure for carrying out an inspection. Our attention was drawn by learned counsel to Page ‘J’ of the appeal paper-book wherein it is stated (and not denied) that an inspection is conducted by a team of three neutral Professors. Of these, one is a coordinator and the other two are taken from an approved list of eminent medical Professors from reputed Government institutions only. Some of the institutions mentioned are the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Post Graduate Institute, Chandigarh, Maulana Azad Medical College (Delhi), Safdarjung College (Delhi), Medical College (Kolkata), Madras Medical College (Chennai), Osmania Medical College (Hyderabad), Grant Medical College (Mumbai), G.S. Medical College (Mumbai), Bangalore Medical College (Bengaluru) etc. There is therefore no doubt that not only are the medical colleges highly reputed but it is also stated that the Professors from these colleges are eminent medical Professors randomly selected by computer software from a list of coordinators and inspectors.

8. Our attention was also drawn to the decision of this Court in Manohar Lal Sharma v. Medical Council of India, (2013) 10 SCC 60 wherein it was held that since the inspection is taken by “doctors of unquestionable integrity and reputation, who are experts in the field, there is no reason to discard the report of such an inspection.” In the present appeal, there is no allegation made by KIMS of any mala fides of the Inspection Team or any perversity in the inspection report and hence there is no question of challenging the conclusions of a neutral, randomly selected Inspection Team in its assessment.

9. As mentioned above, the inspection report and the decision of the MCI were communicated to the Central Government. On a consideration of the material made