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Government of India v. Sri Devraj Urs Medical College

Civil Appeal · 2026 INSC 799Decided 4 Aug 2026
C.A. No.-010669-010669 - 2010 (with connected appeal arising out of SLP (C) No. 9079 of 2011)
Justice Dipankar Datta · Justice Sheel Nagu

Background

In 1995, the Supreme Court's interim order in the TMA Pai Foundation case created a "subvention" scheme under which the Central Government paid Rs. 5,000 per student per year to certain professional colleges, meant to run for five years per student batch or until course completion. Sri Devraj Urs Medical College sought this subvention for students admitted in and after 2002-03, but the Central Government stopped payments after the Supreme Court's final 11-judge bench decision in TMA Pai Foundation (2002) declared the underlying scheme unconstitutional. The Karnataka High Court had ruled in the college's favour, holding it was entitled to subvention for the full 5-year course even for students admitted after the 2002 ruling.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that the subvention scheme itself effectively ended when the 11-judge bench declared it unconstitutional on 31.10.2002, and nothing in that judgment or a later clarificatory order made this effect only prospective in the college's favour. Since the college also failed to provide any data on whether its fee revenue actually fell short of its expenses (a key basis courts have used to justify continued relief), the Court found no ground to extend payments beyond the 2002-03 academic year. The appeal was partly allowed, setting aside the High Court's direction to pay subvention beyond that year.

Lesson Learnt

A benefit created by a court's interim or temporary order does not survive indefinitely once the court's final judgment overturns the scheme that created it, and a party seeking continued financial relief must actually place supporting facts and figures on record, not just argue the point in the abstract.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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