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2017 (8) TMI 1728 - SUPREME COURTDebarring the medical college of the Petitioner in the name and style of "Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre" from making admission in MBBS Course for the academic years 2017-18 and 2018-19 and authorizing as well the Medical Council of India, to encash the bank guarantee of Rs. 2 crores furnished by it - requirement of opportunity of fair hearing - audi alteram partem Rule - HELD THAT:- The fact that the Petitioner's college/institution is a minority institution and that a major festival for the said community was scheduled on 12.12.2016 and that the day previous thereto i.e. 11.12.2016 was a Sunday, are facts which may not be wholly irrelevant. The observation of the Hearing Committee that Petitioner's college/institution has not explained the deficiency of faculty is belied by its representations and also the observations amongst others of the Oversight Committee. The Hearing Committee seems to have ignored the explanation provided by the Professor and Head of Department of Surgery, explaining the treatment given to the three patients named in Clause xii (a) to (c) of the Inspection Report in concluding that, the Petitioner's college/institution had not responded thereto. Its deduction that there might have been more instances of multiple entries in the OPD patient statistics based on five such instances is also visibly presumptive. The striking feature of the observations of the Hearing Committee, on the basis of which the impugned decision has been rendered, is the patent omission on its part to consider the relevant materials on record, as mandated by this Court by its order dated 1.8.2017. The findings of the Hearing Committee, thus stands vitiated by the non-consideration of the representations/explanations of the Petitioner's college/institution, the documents supporting the same, the recommendations/views of the MCI, the observation of the earlier Hearing Committee, DGHS and Oversight Committee, as available on records. The approach of the Respondents is markedly incompatible with the essence and import of the proviso to Section 10A(4) mandating against disapproval by the Central Government of any scheme for establishment of a college except after giving the person or the college concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard. Reasonable opportunity of hearing which is synonymous to 'fair hearing', it is not longer res integra is an important ingredient of audi alteram partem Rule and embraces almost every facet of fair procedure. In view of the persistent defaults and shortcomings in the decision making process of the Respondents, the Petitioner's college/institution ought not to be penalised. Consequently, on an overall view of the materials available on record and balancing all relevant aspects, the conditional LOP granted to the Petitioner's college/institution on 12.09.2016 for the academic year 2016-17 deserves to be confirmed. The impugned order is set aside - petition allowed.
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