The Supreme Court, on Monday, imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on the National Medical Commission (NMC) for "harassing" a medical college that had applied for approval to increase its seat intake.

A Bench comprising Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan delivered the ruling in an appeal filed by the National Medical Commission (NMC) against a Kerala High Court decision. The High Court had permitted KMCT Medical College to increase its seat intake, contingent on the college providing an undertaking.

"Prima facie, we find that the attitude of the NMC is not of a model litigant. The NMC is an organ of the State and is expected to act in a fair and reasonable manner...Making a party run from Court to Court to seek permission, specifically when the institute concerned is not a new institute and has been running for the last 18 years, in our view, is only an attempt to harass the institution," reads the judgment.

The Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) initially granted approval for KMCT Medical College to increase its seat intake from 150 to 250 for the 2023-24 academic session. However, this approval was withdrawn in April 2024. In June 2024, the National Medical Commission (NMC) denied the college’s request for an increase, citing its failure to submit the Consent of Affiliation (COA) and the fact that the matter was still pending before the High Court.

The Supreme Court observed that the NMC could have resolved its concerns by approaching the High Court, noting that the COA had already been granted in favor of the college on August 12, 2024.

"We are, therefore, of the view that the present special leave petitions are an abuse of the process of law and, therefore, dismissed with cost quantified at Rs.10,00,000/- to be paid within four weeks from the date of this order."

The court directed that ₹5 lakh be paid to the Supreme Court Bar Association Welfare Fund, while the remaining ₹5 lakh was to be contributed to the Supreme Court Advocate-on-Record Association for its library.