J U D G M E N T

1. The petitioner in the instant petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeks to challenge the impugned order dated 14.07.2023 passed by respondent no.1/Union of India (hereinafter 'UoI') dismissing the second appeal of the petitioner, confirming the order dated 23.06.2023 passed by the first appellate authority, thereby affirming the order in original dated 08.05.2023 passed by respondent no.2/Medical Assessment & Rating Board (hereinafter 'MARB') of the National Medical Commission (hereinafter 'NMC').

2. The facts of the case would show that the petitioner is a private University established by the Madhya Pradesh Niji Vishwavidyalaya (Sthapana Avam Sanchalan) Dwitiya Sanshodhan Adhiniyam, 2014; by way of an amendment to the Madhya Pradesh Niji Vishwavidyalaya (Sthapana Avam Sanchalan) Adhiniyam, 2007. The university is managed and run by the Ayushmati Education and Social Society.

3. The petitioner, with an object to establish a new medical college from the academic year 2023-24, is stated to have attempted to apply - 3 –

online for the grant of recognition pursuant to the public notice dated

18.07.2022 issued by MARB.

4. The petitioner deposited the prescribed fee. The status of the said application was shown as “in-progress”. Initially, the last date for submission of application was 10.08.2022. Since the petitioner did not get any update about the status of the application through online portal, therefore, on the last date of submission of applications i.e. 10.08.2022, the petitioner submitted the hardcopy of the same application in the office of MARB against acknowledgment. The petitioner did not receive any acknowledgment with regard to the acceptance of its online application, therefore, the petitioner sent various mails to MARB on 24.02.2023, 13.03.2023, 01.04.2023 and 03.04.2023 with the request to update the status of the petitioner‟s application.

5. On 08.05.2023, MARB replied to the petitioner stating therein that though MARB had received a sum of Rs.8,26,000/-, however, no application of the new college along with necessary documents was received on the NMC portal. Therefore, in the absence of any application for establishment of the new college for the academic year

2023-24, no permission can be granted.

6. On 20.05.2023, the petitioner filed its first appeal under section 28(5) of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019 (hereinafter 'NMC Act, 2019') before the NMC. Vide order dated 23.06.2023, NMC dismissed the first appeal reiterating the same reason that was stated in the order in original, it being that the petitioner did not submit any application online and in the absence of such an application, the decision of the MARB cannot be interfered with.

7. The petitioner, thereafter, on 24.06.2023 filed its second appeal before UoI under Section 28(6) of the NMC Act, 2019 which also - 4 –

came to be rejected by the impugned order dated 14.07.2023. The petitioner has, therefore, filed the instant petition.

8. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner vehemently argues that the impugned communication dated 08.05.2023 and the orders passed in the appeals are illegal and improper. He submits that the approach of the respondents is erroneous in as much as they did not consider the fact that the filing of the application in hardcopy was well within time i.e., 10.08.2022.

9. He, therefore, submits that once the application fee was accepted and the hardcopy was acknowledged, there was no reason for not considering the same. In any case, if the same was not acceptable, immediate communication could have been made by the respondents to the petitioner rejecting the hardcopy so that the petitioner could have taken appropriate recourse or could have filed a fresh application within a prescribed time frame.

10. He then submits that the intention of the petitioner to set up a new medical college is evident. Merely on the basis of certain technical reasons, the application ought not to have been rej