Another Setback to Kannur Medical College: Supreme Court stays HC order
Thiruvananthapuram: In a setback to Kannur Medical College authorities who were eagerly awaiting the affiliation of the institute for this academic year, the Supreme Court has stayed the Kerala High Court order to consider the matter.
The orders were passed by the bench presided by honourable Justice Arun Mishra based on a petition filed by the admission supervisory committee and MBBS students against the HC order calling for consideration of giving affiliation to Kannur Medical College for the academic year 2020-21.
The Supreme Court has also issued notice to the opposing parties, including Kannur Medical College. The Admissions Supervisory Committee pointed out that the medical college has not fully implemented the apex court's order relating to refunding fees for MBBS students who had taken admission in the year 2016-17.
Medical Dialogues extensively reported about the matter which ensued after a complaint was registered by the father of the petitioner MBBS student to the Admission Supervisory Committee, seeking reimbursement of the fee collected by the medical college management. The complainant alleged that the management had collected Rs 20 lakh to Rs 50 lakh from students, besides collecting bank guarantees to secure future payments.
However, the Medical College soon got derecognized after it failed to comply with the orders of the Admission Supervisory Committee on the refund.
Repeated directives by the committee to the college authorities resulted in failed compliance on the part of the college, towards refunding of fees to the students. This, in turn, resulted in the committee recommending withdrawal of affiliation from Kannur Medical College to KUHS.
Read Also: Withdrawal of Affiliation of Kannur Medical College: Kerala HC dismisses plea
The litigation then went to the apex court which at that time directed the medical college to return back the amount paid by the MBBS students in double.
Read Also: Kannur Medical College told to Refund Double the Capitation Fee paid by MBBS students
A number of conflicts followed the apex court's order. The medical college had stated that they paid back Rs 20 lakh to the students for Rs 10 lakh paid by the students.
Then, the government-appointed Supervisory Committee had submitted the report with SC stating that the court order was not obeyed. The Committee found that the students had paid Rs 30 – 40 lakhs at the time of admissions. So the court ordered for a probe regarding this issue.
Read Also: MBBS Student Who Lost Year At Kannur Medical College Deserves Compensation: SC
Later, at the hearing in HC on the plea of the committee and the MBBS students, the High Court instructed to submit a bank guarantee of Rs 10 crore and documents of the 25 acres of land in which the campus is located.
Now, during a recent hearing session, the admission supervising committee notified the apex court that the medical college has not implemented the order to refund the fees of students who took admission to the college in the academic year 2016-17, reports Mathrubhuni
Taking cognizance of the committee's submission, the Supreme has now issued a stay order on the HC verdict and has issued notices to the Kannur Medical College authorities seeking their stance.
