Rejection of application u/s 13-A of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act due to delay in submission of documents would be a pedantic and purposeless approach: Delhi High Court

By - Shriya Singh*

In a recent judgment, the Delhi High Court held that an application for the establishment of Medical College under Section 13-A of the Indian Medicine Central Council Act, 1970, cannot be rejected on the grounds of non-submission of documents within the specified time period. The Court further opined that the applicant’s diligent efforts must be taken into consideration.

The Delhi High Court jointly took up three petitions to address the issue of rejection of application seeking permission for the establishment of a new Ayurvedic medical college. The first petition filed by a trust here is referred to as CC Trust. Section 13-A deals with the permission for the establishment of a new medical college or a new course of study. 

Along with the application for permission, the applicant is required to submit other documents including a No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the state government, and a Consent of Affiliation (COA) from the affiliating university. 

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In the case of CC Trust, petitioner no.1 failed to submit the COA in the specified format which resulted in the rejection and return of the same by the Union of India (UOI). Petitioner no. 1 again obtained a COA in the correct format and submitted it to the UOI. However, the COA was again rejected on the grounds of late submission.

Similar is the case of petitioner no.3, K.L. Shastri Smarak Sansthan (KLSSS) where the COA was rejected due to incorrect format. In the case of petitioner no. 2, during the time of submission of application, the NOC was under process, for which the petitioner filed an affidavit stating the reason for the same. The NOC was rejected and returned to petitioner no.2 on the ground of late submission.

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The counsel for petitioner no.1 and no.3 argued that although the COAs were not in proper format the COA issued by the affiliated university were submitted before the last date of submission. The counsel for petitioner no.2 emphasized that applicant/ petitioner no.2 was diligent in the submission of NOC as soon as it was received. Opposing the claims of the petitioners, the respondents claimed the late submission to be against the provisions of the regulations. 

The Court in the matter of petitioner no.1 and no. 3 observed that though in the wrong format still, the University indicated its consent to the affiliation. In para 27 of its judgment, the Court observed, “…I find that the University signified its consent to the association of the proposed college, and referenced the NOC to be obtained from the State Government.” “… The purpose of Regulation 6(1)(c) is to ensure that the proposed college would be in a position to confer degrees under the aegis of its affiliating university and would have to abide by the standards prescribed by the university. These purposes were met by the University’s communications and the petitioners are, therefore, entitled to the benefit of the equitable doctrine of substantial compliance”. 

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Furthermore, the court noted, "that rejection after the date of submission of the required documents on the ground of their non-submission within time would be a pedantic and purposeless approach…these judgments are squarely applicable and the rejection of the petitioner’s application must be held to be unreasonable”.

The court after considering all the facts and circumstances held that petitioners were put in such a position due to the failure of the UOI to adopt a more reasonable approach to deal with such situations. Therefore, UOI must approve their applications for further consideration in accordance with the law.

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*Shriya Singh is a 1st year student pursuing B.A.LL.B.(Hons.) from National Law University, Delhi.