Non-Inclusion Of Some Medical Courses From Academic Prospectus: Kerala HC Dismisses Writ Appeal Filed By Association Of Clinical Microbiologists & Biochemists

The Bench stated that a decision to omit or include certain courses from the prospectus was purely a matter of policy which the Government had authorised. The Court upheld the decision of the Single Judge which held that the scope of interference in such policy decisions while exercising the power of judicial review was very limited.

A Division Bench of Justice A. Muhamed Mustaque and Justice S. Manu observed, “As pointed out above there cannot be a case for the appellant that any of their fundamental or legal rights have been infringed on account of the non-inclusion of the courses in the prospectus issued by the official respondents…The association which has filed the appeals also has no legal right to seek inclusion of the two courses in the prospectus issued by the Government.”

Advocate Thomas M. Jacob represented the appellant, while Sr. G.P. Vinitha appeared for the respondents.

The Association raised a grievance in the writ petition regarding the removal of B.Sc. Medical Biochemistry and B.Sc. Medical Microbiology courses from the prospectus for the academic year 2018-19 published by the Director of Medical Education.

The Association argued that the courses had been part of the prospectus for professional degree courses and paramedical streams since the academic year 2015-16. However, in the draft prospectus for 2018-19, approved by the Government on May 18, 2018, these courses were omitted.

In the year 2017-18 the process of selection and allotment which was earlier entrusted with the Lal Bahadur Shastri Centre for Science and Technology was assigned with the Commissioner for Entrance Examination.

The Petitioners in the writ petitions are/were students of the above said courses at the time of filing the writ petition. They approached this Court contending that the removal of their courses from the prospectus of the Government would have far-reaching consequences on their future career.

The Government resisted the writ petitions contending that the decision to omit the courses was taken on sound reasoning. It was also argued that the same being a policy decision cannot be interfered with at the instance of students who had already joined/completed the course.

The Single Bench held that since the decision to exclude the courses from the prospectus was a policy decision, the scope for judicial review was extremely limited in such matters.

The Division Bench of the High Court stated that the apprehension regarding the recognition of the courses raised by the association was misconceived. “For a course which is otherwise having approval of the concerned University or Apex body, the mere inclusion or exclusion of it in the prospectus issued for admission by the Government can have no impact in the eyes of those having sufficient understanding about the course,” the Court noted.

The Court, therefore, upheld the decision of the learned Single Judge, affirming that the exclusion of B.Sc. Medical Biochemistry and B.Sc. Medical Microbiology courses from the prospectus were purely a policy decision where the scope for judicial review was extremely limited.

Consequently, the Court held, “In this case we are at a loss to understand the legal right of the appellant to claim any reliefs with respect to omission of the above said courses from the prospectus issued by the Government. ”

Accordingly, the High Court dismissed the petition.

Cause Title: Association Of Clinical Microbiologists & Biochemists v. Akhil James & Ors. (Neutral Citation: 2024:KER:47436)

Appearance:

Appellant: Advocates Thomas M. Jacob and T.R. Jerry Sebastian

Respondents: Sr. G.P. Vinitha; S.C. P. Sreekumar and Shameena Salahudheen

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