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State of Madhya Pradesh and Another v. Suresh Narayan Vijayvargiya and Others

Contempt Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 390 of 2011)Decided 27 Feb 2014
Contempt Petition (Civil) No. 390 of 2011
Justice B.S. Chauhan · Justice K.S. Radhakrishnan · Justice S.A. Bobde

Background

A private medical college filled its entire intake itself despite the Supreme Court's interim order dividing seats between management and the state. Students allotted through the state quota had to litigate for admission. Their later admission left the college with 245 students against a sanctioned intake of 150.

Decision Breakdown

The Court found wilful disobedience of its seat-sharing orders. The college's claimed change in statutory status did not permit it to disregard a binding order; it should have sought clarification or modification. The Court accepted the unconditional apology but imposed a Rs. 50 lakh fine payable to the state within two months. It directed regularisation of the state-quota admissions and adjustment of 107 excess admissions against future seats, first in 2014-15 and any balance in 2015-16.

Lesson Learnt

A college cannot bypass a court's admission arrangements by deciding for itself that another statute overrides them. An apology may leave both financial consequences and corrective reductions in later intake.

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

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