KANNUR DENTAL COLLEGE vs KERALA UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES

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2026 Supreme(Online)(Ker) 68038

IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM
P.V. Kunhikrishnan, J
KANNUR DENTAL COLLEGE – Appellant
Versus
KERALA UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES – Respondent
WP(C) 36167/2026

Important Points

Affiliation authority vests in the Governing Council, not the Registrar. If the competent authority fails to decide on the continuation of provisional or conditional affiliation before expiry, the affiliation is deemed extended for one year to protect student interests.

Subject

Education Law - University Affiliation

Act Referred

Kerala University of Health Sciences Act, 2010: S.51(4), S.53(1), S.12(7), S.23, S.14
Kerala University of Health Sciences First Statutes 2013
Constitution of India: Art.14

Headnote

(A) University Act, 2010 - Sections 12(7), 14, 23(v), 51(4), 53(1) - University Statutes - Clause 2(5)(ix)(16) - Continuation of affiliation - Jurisdiction of Registrar vs. Governing Council - Deemed extension of provisional affiliation - Conditional affiliation treated as provisional affiliation - Power to affiliate medical institutions is vested in the Governing Council; the Registrar possesses administrative powers and lacks the statutory jurisdiction to reject an application for continuation of affiliation (Paras 12-13).

(B) If the competent authority fails to decide on the continuance or confirmation of provisional affiliation before the period of expiry, the affiliation is deemed extended for one more year to protect students' interests and maintain institutional legitimacy (Paras 14-15).

(C) Conditional affiliation, wherein specific conditions must be met within a fixed period, is a form of provisional affiliation, and the principle of deemed extension is applicable to such cases (Para 18).

Facts of the case:
A medical college applied for the continuation of its affiliation for the 2026-27 academic year. Following inspections and the submission of compliance reports, the Registrar of the university issued an order rejecting the extension of affiliation. The college challenged this order, contending that the Registrar lacked the jurisdiction to pass such an order and that, in the absence of a valid decision by the competent authority, the affiliation should be treated as deemed extended.

Findings of Court:
The court found that according to the relevant Act and Statutes, the power to affiliate institutions lies with the Governing Council. The order issued by the Registrar was therefore void for lack of jurisdiction. It was further held that conditional affiliation is considered a form of provisional affiliation for the purpose of applying the principle of deemed extension.

Issues: Whether the Registrar of a university has the jurisdiction to reject an application for continuation of affiliation and whether the principle of deemed extension of affiliation applies to conditional affiliation.

Ratio Decidendi: The court reasoned that since the Registrar only has administrative powers and not statutory powers to decide on affiliation, the rejection order was non est. Consequently, as no valid decision was made by the Governing Council before the expiry of the previous affiliation, the affiliation was deemed extended for one year to ensure that courses can continue without interruption for the benefit of the students.

Result: Writ Petition allowed-in-part. Order rejecting affiliation set aside; deemed continuation of affiliation declared for the 2026-27 academic year; prayer for fresh stray vacancy allotment rejected.

Legal Category Hierarchy

Advocates:
For the Appellants/Petitioners: Tony George Kannanthanam, Shajin S. Hameed, Ebee Antony, Ajith George Koola, Kurian George Kannanthanam (Sr.)
For the Respondents: S. Ganesh, Benraj K.R., P. Sreekumar, Rukhiyabi Mohammed Kunhi

JUDGMENT

The petitioner’s College was established in the year 2005-2006, with a sanctioned intake of 50 seats for Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). The Central Government has also issued its Letter of Permission (LOP) on the recommendation of the Dental Council of India (DCI). As per DCI regulations, this LOP must be renewed every year until the first batch of students passes out. The DCI grants this renewal after an annual inspection and recommends it to the Central Government. This renewal was done every year. On the first batch passing out, the Central Government granted the College “recognition”. It is submitted that only a recognised College can apply for enhancement of intake and for additional courses. Once recognised, no further LOP is required, nor is there any annual inspection by the DCI, is the submission. However, for Self-Financing Colleges, the University grants afÏliation only for a year and gives “continuation” of afÏliation every year after inspection.

2. It is submitted that the College got its first recognition by the Central Government on the recommendation of the DCI in the year 2012, and the College applied for enhancing the intake capacity for BDS, which was enhanced from 50 to 100 in 2012. The College also received recognition for this enhanced intake in 2017, as per the further submission. A few P.G. Courses (MDS) were sanctioned in 2012, and one additional course was also sanctioned in 2013, as per the submission. The P.G. Courses started in 2012 were also recognised in 2016, and the additional course started in 2013 was also recognised in 2018, as submitted. Thereafter, the afÏliation by the University was being renewed every year till 2024-25, as submitted by the petitioner.

3. When it was not renewed for the year 2025-26, the College approached this Court by filing Writ Petition No. 26519/2025. At that time, the allotment process by the Commissioner was in progress, is the submission. Accordingly, this Court intervened and granted an Interim Order on 01/08/2025 to include the College in the allotment process. Against the interim order, the Commissioner for Entrance Examination filed Writ Appeal number 1912/2025. While the Division Bench was considering the appeal, the University renewed the afÏliation for the academic year 2025-26, as evident from Ext.P1. This renewal of afÏliation was for BDS and MDS together.

4. The University had started an “accreditation” process recently is the submission. The College was granted accreditation with an A+ grade in 2024, as evident from Exhibit P2 - Certificate of Accreditation, is the further submission. The accreditation was granted on the recommendation of the “Quality Assurance Monitoring Committee,” and this accreditation is valid up to 16.01.2027, is the submission. In 2024 itself, the University recognised the College as a “Doctoral Research Centre,” and Ext. P3 is produced for the same. It is also submitted that the DCI had conducted its routine inspection in 2023 and a Joint Inspection for BDS and MDS together on 5^th and 6^th of April 2023. The petitioner states that the DCI did not note any deficiency, and the status report given by the DCI is produced as Exhibit-P4.

5. The petitioner applied for continuation of afÏliation for 2026-27 on 12.09.2025. After 6 months, the University conducted an inspection on 05.03.2026. Certain deficiencies were pointed out as per Ext.P5 letter, and according to the petitioner, the deficiencies noted by inspectors were not relevant or specific. It is submitted that the petitioner submitted a compliance report on stamp paper, as evidenced by Ext.P6, addressing all the deficiencies. Ext.P7 is the staff/faculty list, which was produced along with the Ext.P6 compliance report as Annexure-1. Therefore, it is submitted that the College has all required staff to conduct the courses. The University FEP number is also mentioned in the list is the submission. It is further submitted that these staff were present in the College and this