- (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) The Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, hereinafter referred to as the "1956 Act", was enacted, inter alia, to provide for the reconstitution of the Medical Council of India and the maintenance of a Medical Register for India and for matters connected therewith. Section 3 of the Act empowered the Central Government to constitute a Council, which as per Section 4(1) means the Medical Council of India, hereinafter referred to as the "Medical Council", constituted under the 1956 Act.
(3.) In these matters, we are mainly concerned with the interpretation of Sections 10A and 11 of the 1956 Act. Section 10A of the 1956 Act, which provides for permission for establishment of new medical colleges and new courses of study, is extracted hereinbelow : "10A. Permission for establishment of new medical college, new course of study.- (1) Notwithstanding anything contained in this Act or any other law for the time being in force:- a) no person shall establish a medical college; or b) no medical college shall (i) open a new or higher course of study or training (including a post-graduate course of study or training) which would enable a student of such course or training to qualify himself for the award of any recognised medical qualification; or (ii) increase its admission capacity in any course of study or training (including a post-graduate course of study or training), except with the previous permission of the Central Government obtained in accordance with the provisions of this Section. Explanation 1.-For the purposes of this Section, "person" includes any University or a trust but does not include the Central Government. Explanation 2.- For the purposes of this Section "admission capacity" in relation to any course of study or training (including post-graduate course of study or training) in a medical college, means the maximum number of students that may be fixed by the Council from time to time for being admitted to such course or training. (2) (a) Every person or medical college shall, for the purpose of obtaining permission under sub-Section (1), submit to the Central Government a scheme in accordance with the provisions of clause (b) and the Central Government shall refer the scheme to the Council for its recommendations. (b) The scheme referred to in clause (a) shall be in such form and contain such particulars and be preferred in such manner and be accompanied with such fee as may be prescribed. (3) On receipt of a scheme by the Council under sub-Section (2) the Council may obtain such other particulars as may be considered necessary by it from the person or the medical college concerned, and thereafter, it may, - a) if the scheme is defective and does not contain any necessary particulars, give a reasonable opportunity to the person or college concerned for making a written representation and it shall be open to such person or medical college to rectify the defects, if any, specified by the Council; b) consider the scheme, having regard to the factors referred to in sub-Section (7), and submit the scheme together with its recommendations thereon to the Central Government. (4) The Central Government may, after considering the scheme and the recommendations of the Council under sub-Section (3) and after obtaining, where necessary, such other particulars as may be considered necessary by it from the person or college concerned, and having regard to the factors referred to in sub-Section (7), either approve (with such conditions, if any, as it may consider necessary) or disapprove the scheme and any such approval shall be a permission under sub-Section (1): Provided that no scheme shall be disapproved by the Central Government except after giving the person or college concerned a reasonable opportunity of being heard: Provided further that nothing in this sub Section shall prevent any person or medical college whose scheme has not been approved by the Central Government to submit a fresh scheme and the provisions of this Section shall apply to such scheme, as if such scheme has been submitted for the first time under sub-Section (2). (5) Where, within a period of one year from the date of submission of the scheme to the Central Government under sub-Section (2), no order passed by the Central Government has been communicated to the person or college submitting the scheme, such scheme shall be deemed to have been approved by the Central Government in the form in which it had been submitted, and accordingly, the permission of the Central Government required under sub-Section (1) shall also be deemed to have been granted. (6) In computing the time-limit specified in sub-Section (5), the time taken by the person or college concerned submitting the scheme, in furnishing any particulars called for by the Council, or by the Central Government, shall be excluded. (7) The Council, while making its recommendations under clause (b) of sub-Section (3) and the Central Government, while passing an order, either approving or disapproving the scheme under sub-Section (4), shall have due regard to the following factors, namely:- a) whether the proposed medical college or the existing medical college seeking to open a new or higher course of study or training, would be in a position to offer the minimum standards of medical education as prescribed by the Council under Section 19A or, as the case may be, under Section 20 in the case of post-graduate medical education; b) whether the person seeking to establish a medical college or the existing medical college seeking to open a new or higher course of study or training or to increase its admission capacity has adequate financial resources; c) whether necessary facilities in respect of staff, equipment, accommodation, training and other facilities to ensure proper functioning of the medical college or conducting the new course or study or training or accommodating the increased admission capacity, have been provided or would be provided within the time-limit specified in the scheme; d) whether adequate hospital facilities, having regard to the number or students likely to attend such medical college or course of study or training or as a result of the increased admission capacity, have been provided or would be provided within the time-limit specified in the scheme; e) whether any arrangement has been made or programme drawn to impart proper training to students likely to attend such medical college or course of study or training by persons having the recognised medical qualifications; f) the requirement of manpower in the field of practice of medicine; and g) any other factors as may be prescribed. (8) Where the Central Government passes an order either approving or disapproving a scheme under this Section, a copy of the order shall be communicated to the person or college concerned." ;