Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday upheld the derecognition of courses offered by the College of Physicians and Surgeons (CPS) and restrained the institute from affiliating hospitals/clinics or admitting students to diploma or degree courses without prior approval from the National Medical Commission (NMC).
Court’s Ruling & Background
A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Manjusha Deshpande ruled that the July 13, 2024, order issued by the Medical Education and Drugs Department Secretary was valid, citing Section 10A of the Indian Medical Council Act and Section 28 of the NMC Act, 2019. The court stated that CPS may resume courses only if it meets regulatory standards and secures approval from competent NMC bodies.
The ruling was made on multiple petitions, including a PIL filed by Dr. Suhas Pingle, former Maharashtra Medical Council (MMC) member, challenging CPS’s operations and a CPS petition against the July 13 order, which had halted counseling for 10 postgraduate courses.
Allegations Against CPS
Dr. Pingle argued that CPS had been affiliating small, ill-equipped clinics and hospitals as training centers for its medical degrees. The PIL, filed through advocate VM Thorat, alleged:
Lack of essential infrastructure, equipment, and faculty in affiliated institutions.
Opaque admission process and irregularities in examinations.
Issuance of passing certificates to failing students.
He also pointed out that despite Medical Council of India (MCI) recommending derecognition of CPS courses in 2000, the state government had included 11 such courses in the Maharashtra Medical Council schedule without proper inspections.
Government’s Response
The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare informed the HC on July 19 that CPS lost its authority to conduct medical courses in May 2016, when the Indian Medical Degrees Act, 1916, which empowered CPS to confer degrees, was repealed. This was officially communicated to the state government via letter.
The court also noted that, under the current legal framework, even state governments cannot start new UG/PG medical courses without central government or NMC approval, yet CPS had been granting permissions to private hospitals and clinics to run medical courses.
Implications
With this ruling, CPS cannot enroll new students or affiliate institutions unless it meets NMC’s regulatory standards. The future of existing CPS students now depends on further government and legal decisions.
