JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, CJI.

1. Leave granted.

2. These appeals arise from a judgment dated 4 March 2022 of a Division Bench at the Aurangabad Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay.

3. Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College¹[“Medical College”] was established in 1990 with an annual intake capacity of 100 seats for the MBBS degree course. The MBBS degree granted by the University to which the Medical College was affiliated was recognized under Section 11 of the Indian Medical Council Act 1956 for 100 seats in 1997. The recognition was liable to be renewed every five years. For the academic years 2017-18 and 2018-19, the Medical College was not granted permission to admit students. On 30 November 2020, the Medical College submitted an application for increase of its intake capacity from 100 to 150 seats commencing from the academic year 2021-22. At the same time, the renewal of recognition became due in 2021. During the Covid-19 pandemic, no inspection could be conducted by the appellants. On 10 May 2021, an affidavit was filed on behalf of the Medical College stating that there were no deficiencies. The Undergraduate Medical Education Board of the first appellant, bearing in mind, the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic granted renewal of recognition on 15 July 2021 for the batch of students admitted for the academic session 2016-17. The recognition was for the academic year 2021-22, subject to the condition that the continuance of recognition would be done in accordance with law. The application submitted by the Medical College was thereupon processed and a physical inspection was carried out on 8/9 October 2021 for increase in the intake capacity from 100 to 150 seats. A letter of intent was issued on 16 November 2021 for approving the increase in the intake capacity, subject to the Medical College submitting the requisite undertaking and documents, together with the acceptance letter. The Medical College furnished the requisite documents/ undertaking, together with the letter of acceptance, on 23 November 2021. On 25 November 2021, a letter of permission was issued by which the application submitted by the Medical College for increase in the intake capacity from 100 to 150 MBBS seats for 2021-22 was approved. This was subject to the specific condition that if during the course of surprise inspection, the Medical College was found not maintaining minimum standards, the letter of permission would be withdrawn.

4. In the meantime, certain complaints were received by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare alleging irregularities and deficiencies in the infrastructure of the Medical College. A team of inspectors was deputed to conduct a surprise physical inspection on 14/15 January 2022. During the course of the inspection, gross deficiency of faculty, residents and clinical material, among other aspects, were found by the assessors. After the receipt of the assessor’s report, a communication dated 19 January 2022 was addressed to the Medical College withdrawing the letter of permission for increase in the intake capacity from 100 to 150 seats and directing the stoppage of admission for academic year 2021-22 in view of the gross deficiencies found during the course of the surprise inspection.

5. The Medical College instituted a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution before the Aurangabad Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Bombay. The petition was disposed of by directing the appellants to conduct an inspection of the Medical College by 30 January 2022 and a final decision was directed to be taken by 3 February 2022. The petition was, thus, disposed of on 25 January 2022, on the first date of hearing, without a counter affidavit being filed by the appellants. This gave rise to the filing of a Special Leave Petition²[SLP(C) No 1710 of 2022] on 29 January 2022. An application for modification of the order of the High Court was thereafter filed by the Medical College. The High Court