AI Structured Summary
Not yet generated for this judgment
Judgment
Dilip B. Bhosale, J.—The petitioner-educational institution, in the present writ petition under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution of India, seeks the following reliefs:
(A) A writ in a nature of certiorari be issued and the order dated 14/1/2013 passed by Respondent no. 2 vide Annexure-''D'' be quashed and in view of recommendation made by DCI vide Annexure-A, respondent no. 1 be directed to issue notification of recognition of MDS Courses with existing intake capacity.
(B) A writ in a nature of Mandamus directing the respondents to forward the application made by petitioner institution for increase of intake MDS courses in Conservative Dentistry, Prosthodontics and Periodontology from 2 seats to 6 seats for academic year 2013-14 to Dental Council of India, New Delhi.
I have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the entire material placed before the Court. By the order/letter dated 14.01.2013 issued by the second respondent, the application of the petitioners for increasing the admission capacity at the Post Graduate level has been returned. It appears that the petitioners had applied for increasing M.D.S. Seats in the specialities, i.e., (i) Periodontology, (ii) Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge, and (iii) Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics. Their application dated 08.10.2012 was considered in view of the direction issued by this Court vide order dated 07.12.2012 in W.P. No. 70797/2012.
From the contents of paragraph no. 2 of the letter it is clear that their application for increase in M.D.S. Seats in the aforementioned specialities from 2 seats to 6 came to be rejected solely on the ground that those courses were not recognized by the Central Government under the Sub-Section (2) of Section 10 of the Dentists Act, 1948 (16 of 1948) (for short ''the Act'').
There does not appear to be any dispute that the petitioner-institution was granted permission vide order dated 01.05.2009 for starting M.D.S. Courses in the specialities of (i) Periodontology, (ii) Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge, and (iii) Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics with two seats each from the academic session 2009-10.
In view thereof and as per the scheme reflected in the Dental Council of India (Establishment of New Dental Colleges, Opening of New or Higher Course of Study or Training and Increase of Admission Capacity in Dental Colleges) Regulations, 2006 (for short ''the Regulations''), whenever the educational institution desires to increase the admission capacity at the Post Graduate Level, they are suppose to make an application for seeking such prayer to the Central Government in Form No. 3, as annexed to the Regulations, for obtaining its permission.
Regulation 19 of the Regulations clearly provides that a Dental College shall qualify to apply under regulation 18, if the Dental qualification granted to the students of the College and in respect of which the capacity is sought to be increased is recognized with the existing admission capacity. Regulation 19 provides other conditions also to which reference may not be necessary.
In view of Regulations 18 and 19 of the Regulations the petitioner-educational institution had made an application for increasing admission capacity at Post Graduate level on 27.06.2012. The last date for submission of such applications was 30th June of each year. Their application was, however, returned by the Central Government on 31st July 2012. The petitioners resubmitted their application on 25.08.2012 and it was again returned on 03.09.2012. Thereafter the petitioners filed W.P. No. 70797/2012. It came to be disposed of vide order dated 07.12.2012. In view of the directions issued by this Court, the petitioners once again submitted their application on 08.10.2012. Thereafter, the Dental Council of India vide their letter dated 15.12.2012 recommended to the Central Government to recognize the M.D.S. Degree to be awarded by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Karnataka in the specialities of (i) Periodontology, (ii) Prosthodontics and Crown & Bridge, and (iii) Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, with two seats each with the raider, if granted on or after 25.05.2012.
It was submitted on behalf of the petitioners that for no valid reason their earlier applications dated 27.06.2012, 25.08.2012 were returned by the Central Government instead of forwarding them to the Dental Council of India for inspection and submitting their recommendation. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that, the petitioner-educational institution was, for no good reason, forced to file W.P. No. 70797/2012. The Writ Petition was disposed of vide order dated 07.12.2012, reserving liberty to the petitioner-educational institution to file an application to the respondent for increase of M.D.S. Seats for the academic year 2013-14, with a direction to the respondents to consider the same expeditiously and complete the entire process within the prescribed limit for the academic year 2013-14. It appears that when the earlier writ petition was disposed of, a submission was made on behalf of the petitioner that on 28.11.2012, the petitioner-educational institution was recognized as contemplated u/S. 10(2) of the Act. That submission was factually incorrect. According to learned counsel for the petitioner there was only a recommendation made by the Dental Council of India to the Central Government after inspection of the petitioner-educational institution to grant recognition.
Be that as it may, no satisfactory explanation has been offered by the respondents for not processing their application that was filed on 27.06.2012. Learned counsel for the respondents has not disputed the practice of the Central Government to forward such applications to the Dental Council of India for carrying out inspection pending recognition u/s 10(2) of the Act. In the present case, he fairly admitted that the Central Government ought to have forwarded the petitioner''s application to the Dental Council of India in June 2012 as it was done in case of another institution, namely, I.T.I. Dental College, Hospital and Research Centre, Greater Noida (Annexure-B) The fact remains, that learned counsel appearing for the respondents could not and did not offer any explanation as to why their application dated 27.06.2012 was not forwarded to the Dental Council of India for completing the procedure contemplated by the Regulations pending recognition u/s 10(2) of the Act. In view thereof, I find substance in the submission advanced by learned counsel for the petitioner that for no fault of the petitioners, their applications were kept pending/were returned. Even vide the impugned order they have returned the application solely on the ground that recognition of the above mentioned 3 M.D.S. Courses was awaited. Though the letter dated 14.01.2013 was issued by the Government of India, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare (Dental Education Section), it was signed by the Under Secretary to the Government of India one Smt. Anita Tripathi. Within less than 15 days thereafter, the very same Under Secretary (Smt. Anita Tripathi) issued notification recognising M.D.S. awarded by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore as provided for u/s 10(2) of the Act. The Notification dated 31.01.2013 reads as follows:
NOTIFICATION
S.O...... in exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (2) of section 10 of the Dentists Act, 1948 (16 of 1948), the Central Government, after consultation with the Dental Council of India, hereby, makes the following amendments in Part-1 of the Schedule to the said Act, namely:-
In the existing entries of column 2 & 3 against XXXIV of Serial No. 49, in respect of Maratha Mandal''s Nathajirao G. Halgekar Institute of dental Sciences & Research Centre, Belgaum, Karnataka in Part-1 of the Schedule to the Dentists Act, 1948 (16 of 1948) pertaining to recognition of MDS awarded by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, Karnataka, the following entries shall be inserted thereunder:
No. V.12017/18/2008-DE
(Anita Tripathi) Under Secretary to the Government of India
The Under Secretary issued letter dated 14.01.2013, which, according to the petitioners, they received on 08.02.2013. It is in this backdrop I allow the petitioner to resubmit their application for increasing admission capacity at Post Graduate level, within a period of one week from today. While resubmitting the application in Form no. 3, it is needless to state that, they shall comply all the formalities. If their application is resubmitted, the Central Government may process the same in accordance with law/regulations.
Regulation 20 of the Regulations provide that if the application in Form No. 3 is submitted by an Educational Institution and if it is found complete in all respect, the Central Government shall forward it to the Dental Council of India within 30 days of the receipt of such application for evaluation and recommendations.
The Central Government shall forward the petitioner''s application, if found complete in all respect, to the Dental Council of India at the earliest and in any case, within 30 days of the receipt of such application for evaluation and recommendations. I hope and trust that the Central Government shall, if the petitioner''s application is found complete in all respect, shall expedite the further process and shall not wait for 30 days. Further, I hope and trust that the Dental Council of India shall also expedite evaluation and recommendation.
It is made clear that submission of the application and forwarding of the same to the Dental Council of India, under any circumstances, would not mean approval of the application for grant of permission. In other words, it is made clear, under any circumstances, the petitioner-educational institution shall not admit the students for the academic year 2013-14 unless permission of the Central Government is received by petitioner-educational institution to increase the admission capacity at the Post Graduate level.
With these observations the petition is disposed of.