Bombay HC Directs DY Patil Medical College to return original documents to 3 students

Mumbai:The Bombay High Court bench has recently directed Kolhapur-based DY Patil Medical College to return back the original certificates of three medical students by July 10, 2023.

These documents include the MBBS marksheets of those three students and their degree certificates. All these documents are essential for admission to Postgraduate courses. It was alleged by the students that their documents were being wrongly withheld by their institute.

Further, the HC bench of Justices Gautam Patel and Neela Gokhale slammed the institute for not having representation before the Court despite being issued a notice on June 15.

“It is not just regrettable but a matter of concern that a college believes that no court can compel it to attend or act in a certain manner,’’ the Bombay High Court bench further noted.

Approaching the High Court bench the petitioner students claimed that their institute was wrongly withholding their original documents when they sought to leave.

Also Read: Madras HC raps govt for withholding certificates of doctors, orders to ensure immediate bond service postings

While considering the matter, the HC bench took note of the fact that back in the year 2018, the State Government of Maharashtra had issued a notification disallowing private medical colleges from demanding compulsory service bonds after the completion of medical studies of their students.

Times of India adds that during the hearing of the case on June 15, the HC considered the submissions by the counsel for the students, and the Counsels for the Centre and University Grants Commission. After noting their submissions, the HC bench observed that even though the college was served with the petition, it did not appear before the Court. In order to ensure that the college had the opportunity to submit its reply and be heard, the HC bench issued another notice and the matter got adjourned by the Court. At that time, the bench had clarified that no further adjournments would be considered if the college stayed away.

However, the college still stayed away during the hearing of the matter on June 28. Taking note of this, the HC observed, "DY Patil College obviously does not think it is necessary to respond to notices issued by the court or to remain present…if the college fails to remain present despite notice it takes the consequences," adding "it will not be permitted to complain that it was not heard."

The Daily adds that the institute has also not issued the original post graduate certificates and marksheets since May 2022. The Counsel for UGC informed that back in the year 2018, it had notified that the colleges recognised by it as universities or deemed universities could not retain original certificates submitted at the time of admission.

Taking note of this, the court noted that it was “wholly unable” to see especially in the face of the UGC directive “how the DY Patil Medical College can conduct itself in this fashion’’. With this observation, the bench directed the college to hand over the original documents to the three petitioner doctors and listed the matter for further hearing on June 17 to ensure compliance.

Also Read: Medical Degree Certificate not Marketable Commodity, cannot be withheld for unfulfilled bond terms: HC