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The Supreme Court on 3rd July in Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital v State of Punjab held that the state government has no power to withdraw the Essentiality Certificate granted to a medical college except on the ground that it was obtained by fraud or the reason for its grant disappears. This judgment was made by a bench comprising Justice SA Bobde and Justice L Nageswara Rao while allowing a writ petition filed by the petitioners against the respondents.
The state of Punjab had withdrawn the essentiality certificate granted to the medical college on grounds of deficiencies. According to the legislative scheme, once a college is established, its functioning and performance and even de-recognition of its courses are only controlled by the provisions of the IMC Act and not any other law. Thus, the withdrawal of essentiality certificate was contested by the petitioners on the ground that once a certificate has been issued after verifying the purpose for the establishment, it cannot be withdrawn except on the grounds of fraud as per the Indian Medical Council Act. Thus, the issue for the court to decide was whether the state government had the power to withdraw an essentiality certificate once granted and if done so then whether it will be ultra-vires the act and regulations framed.
The court supporting the contention remarked that the Essentiality certificate once issued cannot be revoked as it is an exhaustive power which once exercised cannot be used again except in cases of fraud. The bench further observed that the sole purpose of the Essentiality Certificate is limited to certifying to the Central Government that is essential to establish a Medical College and it does not go beyond this. Moreover, the bench noted that none of the reasons used by the state to justify its actions are grave enough for withdrawal of the certificate as reasons such as deficiencies are of a temporary nature which can be removed. Thus, the writ petition was allowed and action of State of Punjab was quashed as it was found to be ultra-vires of the existing legislation.
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