Rs 14 lakh fee for MBBS: HC extension of stay against fee hike at Vedantaa Medical College

Mumbai: The Bombay HC on Wednesday extended last month's stay granted by it against a fee hike by Vedantaa Medical College run by a private company, in order to provide relief to students and parents.

The HC put a stay on a government resolution which gave permission to the college to charge Rs 14 lakh as fees.

The court was responding to a writ filed by 74 first-year students at Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences, Vedantaa Hospital & research center (Unit of Vedantaa Institute of Academic Excellence Pvt Ltd.). Counsel, Aparna Devkar sought an extension of the stay on Wednesday as the matter didn't reach a regular hearing.

A bench headed by Justice S C Dharmadhikari gave an extension on the matter till it came up for a regular hearing.

The student's plea stated that the brochure stated that the collection of the fee was subject to the Fee Regulating Authorities decision; which is believed to have capped it at Rs 6 lakh. However, the refund was not being disbursed back to the institution. The students challenged the April 10 government resolution which stated that since the college was being run by a private company, it would come under the jurisdiction of the fee regulatory authorities.

The petitioners further claimed that the institution was being allowed to charge Rs 14 lakh as a fee on the grounds that it is run by Private Company and hence could go ahead with making profits reported the TOI.

V M Thorat, the medical college Counsel, on the other hand, had earlier argued that since the Medical Council of India had changed its rules the fee being charged was to be considered legitimate.

Ironically the medical college is of late facing a bleak future are the MCI found a number of infrastructural deficiencies and inadequate teaching staff. The council due to the existing deficiencies has effectively done away with student intake for the current year, a fact that was upheld by the Supreme Court