SC compares Maharashtra medical college to 'Munna Bhai MBBS'; levies penalty of INR 2.5 cr

The apex court has directed Maharashtra medical college to deposit INR 2.5 crore as a penalty to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for "overreaching" its order and enrolling 100 MBBS students despite a stay order. While hearing the case, the court recalled a hearing of last year when Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College was compared with Munna Bhai M.B.B.S movie.

The Supreme Court has directed Maharashtra medical college to deposit INR 2.5 crore as a penalty to the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). The college is penalised for "overreaching" its order and enrolling 100 MBBS students despite imposing a stay order.

"The court has due regard to the situation of 100 of the students if admission is to be disturbed but at the same time, the sanctity of the orders of this court has to be maintained. The respondent (medical college) shall deposit INR 2.5 crore with AIIMS and as a proof, (a) receipt be furnished to the petitioner, National Medical Commission, and the registry of this court," the bench said in its order, as reported by Free Press Journal.

The top court said this amount, which will be deposited in four weeks, will be used at the discretion of the AIIMS director for the treatment of poor patients.

"The amount (will) be used by the AIIMS director at his discretion for treatment of poor patients," it said.

Court Proceedings Details

NMC's counsel Gaurav Sharma said that for the academic year 2022-23, permission was granted to the college for 100 MBBS seats after the inspection team found that it has rectified its deficiencies. However, in 2021-22, when the college was directed by this court not to enrol students, the institution continued with the admission process.

The court has also warned the college to not recover this penalty amount from medical students.

The Background 

In a hearing last year, the Supreme Court had compared Annasaheb Chudaman Patil Memorial Medical College to the 2003 Bollywood hit 'Munna Bhai M.B.B.S' because, during a surprise inspection by a National Medical Commission (NMC) team, the team found that all "hale and hearty" children were lying in the paediatric ward.

A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices P S Narasimha and J B Pardiwala recalled that the NMC inspection team had found that the hospital logbook had medical records, including the blood pressure of patients, of a future date.

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