Private Medical College told to abstain from charging Rs 14 lakh as MBBS fee till june 13

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court in an attempt to provide interim relief to students fighting against 'high fee' ordered a stay , on a government decision to allow Palghar medical college run by a private company to charge Rs 14 lakh as fees.

The court was responding to a petition filed by 74 Ist year MBBS students of Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences, Vedantaa Hospital and Research Centre, a unit of Vedantaa Institute of Academic Excellence Pvt Ltd.

Aparna Devkar, the petitioner’s lawyer contended that though the brochure stated that the collection of the fee would depend upon the decision of the Fee Regulatory Authority, which had fixed it at Rs. 6 lakh, the college was not releasing a refund.

A government resolution (GR) of April 10 which essentially said that since the college was being run by a private company, it would not be governed by the fee regulatory authority stood challenged by the students.

The private medical college has been allowed to charge Rs 14 lakh as fees because it was being run by a private company and hence, entitled to “profiteering”.

A division bench of Justices B R Gavai and Bharti Dangre heard the matter on Wednesday. V M Thorat, Counsel for the medical college, justifying the fee as legitimate argued that since the MCI had brought in changes to its rules, the fees were rightfully being charged by the college, reports TOI.

The private medical college was allowed to file an affidavit by June 13 by the High Court. The bench was of the prima facie view that the impugned government resolution was in contravention of various Supreme Court judgments, the latest being Modern Dental College versus State of Madhya Pradesh in 2016. The court’s stay is to last till June 13.