“Students Cannot Be Left In Lurch To An Uncertain Future”: SC Directs University To Return Original Documents Of Medical Students On Deposit Of Amounts

The Court said that directions are subject to the condition that the petitioners shall file an undertaking to pay the balance amount if they are called upon to do so at the final disposal of the pending Writ Petitions.

The Court was hearing a Special Leave Petition after a dispute related to the fixation of the fee for the undergraduate medical degree course offered by a college in the State of Uttarakhand arose.

The bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice J.B. Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Misra directed, “that conditional on the petitioners depositing an amount of Rs 7.50 lakhs each with the second and third respondents over and above the amounts which have already been deposited, they shall be entitled to a return of their original documents submitted at the time of obtaining admission.”

Senior Advocate Gaurav Aggarwal appeared on behalf of Petitioners and Senior Advocate Gopal Sankarnarayanan appeared on behalf of the Respondents.

Brief Facts-

The Petitioners, students admitted in 2018 to the undergraduate medical course at Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences, completed their studies in 2023. A fee dispute arose after the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee fixed fees for the academic years 2019-2022, which was later applied retrospectively to the 2018-2023 batch. The Petitioners challenged the demand for higher fees and sought to obtain their degrees without any additional payment. The Uttarakhand High Court directed fee payment in instalments while allowing students to begin internships. The Petitioners appealed to the Supreme Court. The High Court admitted the Writ Petitions of Petitioners and scheduled the hearings for March 2025. 

The Court said that an equitable interim order which will apply during the pendency of proceedings before the High Court should be passed to enable the students to obtain the return of their original documents to pursue their postgraduate studies and practice medicine.

“Absent such a direction, the students, despite having completed their undergraduate medical studies and internship, would not be able to either pursue medicine or secure admission for higher studies.”, the Court added.

The Court noted the order of the SC that sought to obviate such an imbroglio by issuing a direction for the deposit of two instalments of fees and requested the High Court to dispose of the petition. “Instead of doing so, the High Court simply admitted the petition and posted it to March 2025. No early resolution of the dispute seems likely. The students cannot be left in the lurch to an uncertain future.”, the Court said.

Accordingly, the Court disposed of the Special Leave Petition.