Supreme Court Examines Whether State Government Permission Needed for Medical College Affiliation After Central Amendment; Final Holding Not Provided in Extract. The case concerned the interplay between the Tamil Nadu Medical University Act, 1987 as amended by State Act XXXII of 1990 requiring State permission and the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 as amended by Central Act 31 of 1993 requiring Central permission for establishing new medical colleges.

Civil writ appeals challenging the High Court's ruling that prior State Government permission was required for affiliation of a private self-financing medical college despite the Central amendment requiring Central Government permission.

The Trust sought establishment of a medical college at Salem, affiliation from Dr. M.G.R. Medical University, and ultimately permission from State and Central authorities; in the Supreme Court, it sought to overturn the High Court order that required State permission.

The Trust's application for affiliation of its proposed medical college was repeatedly rejected or not entertained due to lack of State Government no-objection certificate, later made mandatory by State Amendment Act, and the dispute continued after Central Act inserted Section 10A requiring Central Government permission.

Consent order dated 13-4-1989; order dated 1-2-1991 allowing writ petition; judgment dated 7-2-1992 quashing University rejection; Division Bench judgment dated 30-4-1993 allowing State appeal and dismissing Trust appeal; Supreme Court interim orders dated 18-7-1993, 21-1-1994, and 27-1-1995.

Whether the Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Tamil Nadu (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1989 requiring prior State Government permission for affiliation of medical colleges is rendered inoperative by the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 1993 inserting Section 10A in the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 requiring previous permission of the Central Government. Whether the Trust's applications for affiliation were properly rejected on grounds of limitation, infrastructure deficiencies, and State policy against private self-financing medical colleges.

The Trust argued that the Central legislation had occupied the field after the 1992 Ordinance/1993 Central Act, and therefore the approval of the State Government was no longer necessary for establishing a medical college as required under the proviso to Section 5(5) of the Medical University Act. The State Government argued that the State amendment was not affected by the Central legislation and that prior permission of the State Government was still required for establishing a medical college. The Central Government, when impleaded, took the stand that after the Central Act, the Central legislation occupied the entire field and the State legislation was rendered inoperative, so State Government approval was no longer necessary. The University earlier rejected the Trust's application on grounds of delay and deficiencies, but the High Court found those grounds unsustainable or based on extraneous considerations.

no college shall be affiliated to the University unless the permission of the Government to establish such college has been obtained and the terms and conditions, if any, of such permission have been complied with In view of the said amendments, the Central Government was impleaded as a party in the Writ Appeals which were pending before the Division Bench of the High Court. The High Court held that the amendment introduced in clause (5) of Section 5 of the Medical University Act by the State Act was not, in any way, affected by the Central legislation and that even after insertion of Section 10A in the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 prior permission of the State Government was required for establishing a medical college. If an expert body like that Medical Council of India certifies that the petitioner establishment conforms to the requirements of Medical Council of India, more than half the battle is won.

On 2 December 1987, the Trust applied to the University for affiliation of its proposed medical college. The University refused to entertain the application without a no-objection certificate from the State Government. The Trust filed W.P. No. 2776 of 1989 and obtained a consent order on 13 April 1989 that the University would not insist on prior government permission and would consider the application on merits. The Trust submitted an affiliation application on 30 October 1989, which the University rejected on 18 December 1989 as time-barred. The Trust filed W.P. No. 10453 of 1990; a learned single judge allowed it on 1 February 1991, holding the application timely and directing reconsideration. Meanwhile, the State Legislature enacted the Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Tamil Nadu (Amendment and Validation) Act XXXII of 1990, effective from 24 September 1987, inserting provisos requiring State Government permission for affiliation and approval. After inspection, the University rejected the application on 16 August 1991 citing deficiencies. The Trust filed W.P. No. 13392 of 1991; a single judge quashed the rejection on 7 February 1992 and remitted the matter. The State and Trust filed Writ Appeals Nos. 301 of 1992 and 387 of 1992 respectively. During their pendency, the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Ordinance was promulgated on 27 August 1992, later replaced by the Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 1993, inserting Sections 10A, 10B and 10C in the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. The Central Government was impleaded and argued that the Central legislation occupied the field. The Division Bench of the High Court by judgment dated 30 April 1993 allowed the State's appeal and dismissed the Trust's appeal, holding that State permission was still required. The Trust filed special leave petitions, which were granted. On 18 July 1993, the Supreme Court issued notice, rejected interim relief, and permitted the Trust to approach the Central Government and Medical Council. The Medical Council by letter dated 15 December 1993 asked the Trust to produce a letter of affiliation from the University. On 21 January 1994, the Supreme Court directed the Trust to apply to the State Government within three weeks, and the State Government to decide within four weeks, with reasons if declined, and to place the order before the Court. The Trust applied; by order dated 9 March 1994, the State Government rejected permission, citing policy against private self-financing medical colleges and adequate existing capacity. On 27 January 1995, the Supreme Court directed that the Medical Council of India's opinion be obtained first, observing that MCI certification would be significant. The provided text ends at that point.

• Tamil Nadu Medical University Act, 1987 (Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Act): Section 5(5), Section 5(7)
• Dr. M.G.R. Medical University Tamil Nadu (Amendment and Validation) Act, 1989 [XXXII of 1990]: Provisos to Section 5(5) and 5(7)
• Indian Medical Council (Amendment) Act, 1993 [Central Act No. 31 of 1993]: Sections 10A, 10B, 10C (inserted in Indian Medical Council Act, 1956)
• Indian Medical Council Act, 1956: Section 10A, 10B, 10C