Telangana High Court Tells NMC to Reconsider Medical College Permission Denial

The Telangana High Court has directed the National Medical Commission (NMC) and its Undergraduate Medical Education Board (UGEB) to review their decision to deny permission to a Warangal-based medical college for the 2025-26 academic year.

The order came after an appeal filed by Medicare Educational Trust and Father Colombo Institute of Medical Sciences. The college has been running since 2022-23 but was denied permission this year. The NMC cited two reasons: unresolved deficiencies found during inspections and an FIR registered by the CBI in June 2025 against one of the college’s trustees for allegedly trying to bribe officials.

The court, however, ruled that the registration of an FIR alone cannot be the reason to withhold permission, pointing to a recent Supreme Court judgment in a similar case. It said the college must be allowed to appeal to the NMC’s appellate authority within three days. The authority was told to decide the matter within 10 days, based only on the college’s compliance with rules, and not the FIR.

The college argued that the deficiencies listed were not serious enough for complete rejection, especially since other institutions with similar issues were granted conditional approvals. Their counsel also claimed the NMC was being selective, pointing out that two other colleges with identical shortcomings were allowed to continue.

On the other hand, NMC lawyers stressed that the deficiencies were major, including a lack of faculty and residents, low outpatient numbers, and poor bed occupancy. They also highlighted the seriousness of the bribery allegations, saying the college had tried to influence assessors during inspections.

In its ruling, the High Court made it clear that the appellate authority must strictly follow the NMC’s own standards under the Medical Education Regulations 2023. It also said the decision should not be influenced by the earlier single-judge order that had dismissed the case.

The case will now depend on the appellate authority’s review in the coming days.