HC Relief to Chintpurni Medical College MBBS students, institute told to refund fees

Chandigarh: Providing relief to the Chintpurni Medical College students who had to be transferred after the medical college failed to get renewal permission for academic year 2014-2015, the Punjab and Haryana High Court has recently ordered reimbursement of the dues that the students had paid to the colleges they were transferred to.

Further, the HC bench of Justice Sudhir Mittal has directed the State of Punjab to pay the dues to the colleges. The order of the HC bench has been issued while considering a batch of pleas against the Union of India and other concerned authorities.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the MBBS students enrolled in 2014-2015 academic year faced problems since the erstwhile MCI denied to grant the permission for renewal to the medical college. Following this, the students had approached the HC seeking transfer to other colleges.

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Consequently, in 2017, the HC bench had directed the Punjab Government to follow the Medical Council of India's laid shifting procedure and transfer the students to various colleges of the state.

The college has already lost two surety bonds of Rs 10 crore and Rs 2 crore furnished to admit the students in 2014 and 2016 on the recommendations of committees appointed by the Supreme Court.

Following the surety bonds, the apex court had allowed the college to admit medical students on condition that it would meet all requirements laid down by the MCI. The college, however, failed to meet the MCI guidelines in 2014 and then again in 2016, leading to forfeiture of sureties.

Also Read: HC Decision On Chintpurni Medical College Students' Transfer Awaited

As per the latest media report by The Tribune India, during the hearing of the recent pleas , the erstwhile Medical Council of India, now National Medical Commission (NMC) informed the bench that Rs 9.5 crore had been disbursed to the State on December 7, 2022.

It was observed by Justice Mittal that the claim in the pleas was for payment of the remaining dues of the petitioner students from the money paid to the state by the erstwhile MCI in accordance with the minutes of meeting dated March 28, 2016.  Apart from this, the students also prayed for directions for issuance of final degree and original certificates. 

The bench observed that the dispute arose in the matter as the students had to be transferred to other medical colleges. These colleges had demanded fees from the students. While some of the students paid the fees, others did not. Few students paid the additional amount to the Chintpurni Medical College for obtaining no objection certificate before getting a transfer

"On account of these disputes, the students have been at the receiving end as they have not received their final degrees and other original certificates," observed the HC bench.

Therefore, the bench issued orders for reimbursement of the dues the students had paid to the colleges where they had been transferred and the colleges have also been directed to be paid the dues by the Punjab Government.

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