The Court emphasized that minimal deficiencies should not negate renewals for educational institutions, ensuring student admissions are preserved in public interest.

ORDER :

1. W.P.No.41899/2015 has been preferred by the Shridevi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Hospital (hereinafter referred to as 'the College') for the relief inter alia to quash and set aside the letter dated 23.09.2015 issued by the Union of India regarding non-renewal of the permission for the 3^rd batch of MBBS Course in the College for the academic year 2015-2016. The College has also prayed for a direction to the respondents to consider the petitioner/college for renewal of permission of MBBS course with intake capacity of 150 seats for the academic year 2015-2016. Consequential prayers are also made by the College.

2. On 28.09.2015, this Court passed the following order in the said petition:

"The 2nd petitioner was established pursuant to the grant of permission dated 13.07.2013 by the MCI for running a Medical College with an annual intake of 150 students. The permission was renewed for the Academic year 2014-15 by the respondents. Thereafter, the petitioners made an application for renewal of the permission for the 3rd batch i.e., for the Academic year 2015-16 which was referred to the MCI, which got caused an assessment of the physical and other teaching facilities available. The Inspectors of MCI reported certain deficiencies and submitted the same to the MCI. The said report was in turn forwarded to the Central Government with a recommendation not to consider the case of the petitioner for renewal of permission for the Academic year 2015-16. Thereafter, the Central Government addressed a letter to the petitioners dated 04.03.2015 informing them regarding the recommendation of the MCI and consequently, they granted a hearing on 12.03.2015 at 10.00 a.m. by the Hearing Committee. The petitioners appeared before the Hearing Committee and gave two hard copies and one soft copy in MS document showing the compliance of removal of deficiencies. After hearing the petitioner and taking note of the material produced by them, the Hearing Committee recommended for review of the assessment of the schemes of the MCI along with the said requisite copies of the compliance report and recommendations of the Committee and its observations was also sent. Thereafter, MCI declined to review its earlier decision, by a lengthy order dated 11.05.2015. The 2nd respondent - Central Government acting on the said letter declined to grant the permission.

Aggrieved by the same, the petitioners approached this Court by way of writ petition in W.P. Nos. 36810-811/2015. After hearing all the parties, this Court by a considered order held that the stand of the Central Government as well as the MCI is unsustainable and accordingly, they were quashed. Thereafter, at para 17, it was held as under:

"In view of the fact that the MCI is declining to review its earlier order and to find out whether the compliance report submitted by the petitioners removes the deficiencies pointed out by the MCI in the earlier report, it is open to the Central Government to call upon them to review their earlier decision in the light of the compliance report or send the report of the MCI and the compliance report furnished by the petitioners to any other independent agency such as the Health and Family Welfare Department, Government of Karnataka as was done in other cases and find out whether the petitioners have removed the deficiencies pointed out in the report of the MCI and whether their case could be considered for grant of renewal of permission for the Academic Year 2015-16. Such exercise shall be done on or before 23.09.2015 as the last date prescribed for admission of the students to the undergraduate Course of the MBBS as per the Schedule is 30.09.2015."

After the said order, the Central Government neither called upon the MCI to review its earlier decision in the light of the compliance report nor sent the said report to the MCI and the compliance report furnished by the petitioners to any other independent agency such as the Health and Family Welfare Depar