PT. BATESWARI DAYAL MISHR SHIKSHAversusMADHYA PRADESH NURSES REGISTRATION COUNCIL & ORS.

                        [2019] 2 S.C.R. 1017                             1017


      PT. BATESWARI DAYAL MISHR SHIKSHA SAMITI                           A
                                  v.
 MADHYA PRADESH NURSES REGISTRATION COUNCIL &
                    ORS.
                   (Civil Appeal No. 3137 of 2019)                       B
                     MARCH 15, 2019
         [R. F. NARIMAN AND VINEET SARAN, JJ.]
      Education/Educational institutions:
       Medical institutions – B.Sc (Nursing) Course and M.Sc             C
(Nursing) Course – Grant of recognition – On facts, appellant
institution running nursing college filed writ petition seeking grant
of recognition for running B.Sc (Nursing) Course and M.Sc
(Nursing) Course for the academic session 2018-19 – Disposal of,
by the High Court – Issuance of direction to the State Nurses
Registration Council to hold inspection and decide the issue of          D
recognition by 20.11.2018 and in case of non-grant of recognition,
last date of admission being 30.11.18, appellant institution be
allowed to hold classes for B.Sc as well as GNM (Course) for the
academic session 2018-2019 – Appeal before this Court seeking
direction to the Nursing Council to grant recognition to the appellant   E
institution – Held: Though the appellant institution had been granted
affiliation for running B.Sc (Nursing) course since 2006, but for
the academic session 2018-19, no permission was accorded by the
Nurses Registration Council for running the B.Sc (Nursing) or M.Sc
(Nursing) courses – From the prayer made in the appeal, it is not
clear as to whether the appellant institution is seeking permission      F
for running B.Sc (Nursing) course or M.Sc (Nursing) course – Copy
of the writ petition not enclosed, as such it was not possible to
ascertain as to what prayers had been made in the writ petition
filed before the High Court – Also same not clear from the impugned
judgment of the High Court – Furthermore, appellant institution          G
filed incomplete form for registration of the course for academic
session 2018-19, and no supporting documents were attached –
Consent of the affiliation was not available with the appellant
institution prior to the last date of filing of the application form –

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                                1017
1018              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                   [2019] 2 S.C.R.


 A Institution is not in tribal or hilly areas, and it does not have its own
   Parent Hospital - Thus, grant of permission to run the M.Sc (Nursing)
   course for the academic session 2018-19 would not arise
           Dismissing the appeal, the Court
          HELD: 1.1 Though it may be true that the appellant
 B
   institution had been granted affiliation for running B.Sc (Nursing)
   course since 2006, but from the record it is clear that for the
   academic session 2018-19, there was no permission accorded by
   the Madhya Pradesh Nurses Registration Council for running
   the B.Sc (Nursing) or M.Sc (Nursing) courses. The prayer made
 C in the appeal is not clear as to whether the appellant institution is
   seeking permission for running B.Sc (Nursing) course or M.Sc
   (Nursing) course. A copy of the writ petition has also not been
   enclosed and as such it is not possible to know as to what prayers
   had been made in the writ petition filed before the High Court.
 D The same is not even clear from the impugned judgment of the
   High Court. [Para 7][1022-C-E]
          1.2 The respondent no. 1 has categorically stated that the
   online application Form submitted by the appellant was incomplete
   and no supporting documents were attached with the same. The
 E appellant has not filed any proof to show that it had given all
   required particulars in the online application form. In the absence
   of the copy of the writ petition having been filed before this Court,
   it cannot be ascertained as to whether there was any such
   averment made even in the writ petition. It has also not been
 F stated by the appellant institution that the requisite documents
   were filed along with the application form (which is categorically
   stated by the respondent no. 1 to be incomplete). The very fact
   that the certificate of affiliation was issued in favour of the appellant
   institution by the Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University,
   Jabalpur, on 02.02.2019, which was much after the last date for
 G
   submission of the online application form, would make it clear
   that the said document of affiliation was not even available with
   the appellant institution at the time of filing of the online application
   form. [Para 11][1023-F-H; 1024-A]

 H
PT. BATESWARI DAYAL MISHR SHIKSHA SAMITI v. M. P. NURSES                  1019
            REGISTRATION COUNCIL & ORS.

      1.3 Even otherwise, in the communication of the Indian              A
Nursing Council dated 16.04.2018 to the Registrar of the
respondent no. 1, Madhya Pradesh Nurses Registration Council,
it was categorically mentioned that “please ensure that for GNM
& B.Sc (N) programme, who have applied for this academic year
has a Parent Hospital of minimum 100 beds, whereas the institutions
                                                                          B
are exempted from Parent Hospital located in tribal & hilly areas
only”. The institution of the appellant is admittedly not in tribal
or hilly areas, and it is also not denied that it does not have its
own Parent Hospital. From the perusal of the inspection note
which was carried out by the respondent no. 1 in compliance of
this Court order, it is clear that the renewal of the appellant society   C
and the papers relating to the land and building were found to be
complete and also that there were 48 faculty members, but the
complete online application form had not been submitted and no
renewal fees had been deposited and further, the institution did
not have recognition certificate for the academic session
                                                                          D
2018-19. In the said inspection report, it has also been stated
that the appellant institution did not have its own hospital but
was affiliated to certain hospitals, which hospitals had
only certified that they were not affiliated to any other institution.
[Para 9, 10][1023-A-D]
       1.4 The judgment of the High Court cannot be faulted and           E
there was no occasion for granting permission to the appellant
institution for running the M.Sc (Nursing) course for the academic
session 2018-19. [Para 12][1024-B]
      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION : Civil Appeal No. 3137
of 2019.                                                                  F

      From the Judgment and Order dated 13.11.2018 of the High Court
of Madhya Pradesh, Principal Seat at Jabalpur in WP No. 25716 of
2018.
      Jasbir Singh Malik, Manish Kumar Tirthpuria, Ms. Usha Nandini       G
V., Advs. for the Appellant.
      V. S. R. Krishna, T. Mahipal, Rahul Kaushik, Ms. Bhuvneshwari
Pathak, Shilpi Satyapriya Satyam, Siddharth Chakravorty, Tapan Trivedi,
Advs. for the Respondents.
                                                                          H
1020                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                     [2019] 2 S.C.R.


 A           The Judgment of the Court was delivered by
             VINEET SARAN, J. 1. Leave granted.
            2. Heard learned counsel for the appellant as well as Shri Rahul
       Kaushik, learned counsel for the respondent no. 1, Madhya Pradesh
       Nurses Registration Council.
 B
          3. Appellant institution is a society which runs an institution by the
   name of Dayal Nursing College, Gwalior. It is claimed by the appellant
   institution that it is running the B.Sc (Nursing) course since 2006, and
   also certain other courses like ANM, GNM and Post Basic B.Sc (Nursing)
   courses since 2008, 2010 and 2018 respectively. Since the appellant
 C institution was not granted recognition for running the B.Sc (Nursing)
   course for the academic session 2018-19 and also recognition for starting
   of M.Sc (Nursing) course, the appellant filed a Writ Petition No. 25716
   of 2018, which was disposed of on 13.11.2018 (along with a bunch of
   similar petitions). Relying on a judgment of the Supreme Court in some
 D other  earlier case, the Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High
   Court at Jabalpur disposed of the writ petition (along with other writ
   petitions) with the direction that the State Nurses Registration Council
   (for short ‘SNRC’) shall hold an inspection as soon as possible and decide
   the issue of recognition latest by 20th November, 2018, and in case the
   SNRC did not recognise the appellant institution, considering that the
 E lasteHear date of admission was then declared to be 30th November,
   2018, the appellant institution would be allowed to hold classes for B.Sc
   (Nursing), as well as GNM (Diploma Course) for the academic session
   2018-19. Challenging the said order, this appeal has been filed with the
   prayer to “direct the Indian Nursing Council/State Nursing Council
 F to grant recognition to the petitioner institution for its courses for
   the academic session 2018-19”. The copy of the writ petition filed
   before the Madhya Pradesh High Court has not been filed and thus we
   are unable to know as to what prayers were made before the Madhya
   Pradesh High Court [i.e. whether it was for grant of recognition for
   B.Sc (Nursing) course or M.Sc (Nursing) course, or both]. We are also
 G unable to know as to what were the grounds taken by the appellant
   institution before the High Court in support of its prayers.
           4. The submission of the learned counsel for the appellant institution
   is that the institution has been running B.Sc (Nursing) course since the
   year 2006 but because the SNRC did not conduct the inspection,
 H recognition for B.Sc (Nursing) course could not be granted in favour of
PT. BATESWARI DAYAL MISHR SHIKSHA SAMITI v. M. P. NURSES                         1021
     REGISTRATION COUNCIL & ORS. [VINEET SARAN, J.]

the appellant institution. It has been contended that despite mandamus           A
having been issued by the Division Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High
Court vide its order dated 13.11.2018, yet no inspection was conducted;
and that it was only in pursuance of the order dated 05.03.2019 issued
by this Court in this appeal that an inspection was conducted by the
SNRC on 08.03.2019. In the said report, according to the appellant
                                                                                 B
institution, no deficiencies were pointed out with regard to the faculty,
laboratory, class rooms and other infrastructure facilities. It has also
been contended that the appellant institution has consent of affiliation
for the academic session 2018-19 granted by the Madhya Pradesh
Medical Science University, Jabalpur on 02.02.2019 for “the proposed
new course of M.Sc. Nursing with Subjects (1) – COMMUNITY                        C
HEALTH NURSING – 10 Seats; (2) – MENTAL HEALTH NURSING
– 10 Seats”. It has thus been submitted that the appellant institution be
granted recognition for B.Sc (Nursing) and M.Sc (Nursing) courses for
the academic session 2018-19, which is to commence from 15.03.2019
as per the extended date.
                                                                                 D
       5. Per contra, Shri Rahul Kaushik, learned counsel appearing for
the respondent no. 1, Madhya Pradesh Nurses Registration Council has
contended that the “Madhya Pradesh Nursing Shikshan Sanstha
Manyata Niyam 2018” was gazetted on 16th October, 2018 and the
Rules came into force from 1st December, 2018. As per the said Rules,
the online application forms for academic session 2018-19 were to be             E
submitted by the institutions, for existing courses, seat enhancement and
new courses, between 17th November, 2018 and 22nd December 2018.
According to the respondent, the form submitted by the appellant
institution was incomplete, as it did not give the faculty details, nor did it
upload any supporting documents along with the form. The appellant               F
institution was thus not given permission even for under-graduate courses
for the academic session 2018-19. It was further contended that the
appellant institution did not have its own Parent Hospital, which was
necessary as per the communication dated 16.04.2018 of the Indian
Nursing Council and as such, the case of the appellant institution could
not also be considered for M.Sc (Nursing) course. It was contended               G
that since the appellant did not have permission even for B.Sc (Nursing)
course before the initial last date of admission, which was 31.12.2018,
the question of considering the appellant institution’s application for
running M.Sc (Nursing) course could not be considered. Learned counsel
for the respondent submitted that the appellant institution did not have its     H
1022                SUPREME COURT REPORTS                      [2019] 2 S.C.R.


 A own hospital but it claimed to be affiliated to Family Hospital, Gwalior
   (50 beds) and SSIMS Hospital, Gwalior (95 beds) and District
   Government Hospital, Gwalior (200 beds). However, there was no
   permission for training in Government Hospitals granted by the Director,
   Medical Education and as such the affiliation with the said hospitals
   (which had granted no objection certificate to the effect that such hospitals
 B
   were affiliated to any other college) was of no consequence. Learned
   counsel for the respondent thus submitted that the prayer made in this
   appeal does not deserve to be granted.
              6. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and have perused
       the record.
 C
          7. Though it may be true that the appellant institution had been
   granted affiliation for running B.Sc (Nursing) course since 2006, but
   from the record it is clear that for the academic session 2018-19, there
   was no permission accorded by the Madhya Pradesh Nurses Registration
   Council for running the B.Sc (Nursing) or M.Sc (Nursing) courses. The
 D prayer made in the appeal is not clear as to whether the appellant institution
   is seeking permission for running B.Sc (Nursing) course or M.Sc (Nursing)
   course. A copy of the writ petition has also not been enclosed and as
   such it is not possible to know as to what prayers had been made in the
   writ petition filed before the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The same is
 E not even clear from the impugned judgment of the Madhya Pradesh
   High Court dated 13.11.2018.
          8. The specific case of the respondent no. 1 is that the appellant
   institution had filed incomplete form for registration of the course for
   academic session 2018-19, and that no documents to support its claim
 F had been filed. Further, the last date for filing the online form for
   registration for the academic session 2018-19 was 22nd December, 2018.
   Admittedly the consent for affiliation by the concerned University was
   given only on 02.02.2019 for running the M.Sc (Nursing) course. As
   such, the said consent of the affiliation was not even available with the
   appellant institution prior to the last date of filing of the application form.
 G Thus, the question of granting permission to run the M.Sc (Nursing)
   course for the academic session 2018-19 would not arise, as admittedly
   the form filled by the appellant cannot be said to be complete, with all
   details and supporting documents.

 H
PT. BATESWARI DAYAL MISHR SHIKSHA SAMITI v. M. P. NURSES                          1023
     REGISTRATION COUNCIL & ORS. [VINEET SARAN, J.]

      9. Even otherwise, in the communication of the Indian Nursing               A
Council dated 16.04.2018 to the Registrar of the respondent no. 1, Madhya
Pradesh Nurses Registration Council, it was categorically mentioned
that “please ensure that for GNM & B.Sc (N) programme, who have
applied for this academic year has a Parent Hospital of minimum
100 beds, whereas the institutions are exempted from Parent Hospital
                                                                                  B
located in tribal & hilly areas only”. The institution of the appellant is
admittedly not in tribal or hilly areas, and it is also not denied that it does
not have its own Parent Hospital.
        10. From the perusal of the inspection note dated 08.03.2019,
which was carried out by the respondent no. 1 in compliance of this
Court order dated 05.03.2019, it is clear that the renewal of the appellant       C
society and the papers relating to the land and building were found to be
complete and also that there were 48 faculty members, but the complete
online application form had not been submitted and no renewal fees had
been deposited and further, the institution did not have recognition
certificate for the academic session 2018-19. In the said inspection              D
report, in paragraph 6, it has also been stated that the appellant institution
did not have its own hospital but was affiliated to certain hospitals, which
hospitals had only certified that they were not affiliated to any other
institution.
        11. The crucial issue to be considered is whether the appellant           E
institution had applied to the respondent no. 1, Madhya Pradesh Nurses
Registration Council within the last date, which was 22nd December,
2018 or not, and if so applied, whether the same was complete in all
respects. The respondent no. 1 has categorically stated that the online
application form submitted by the appellant was incomplete and no
supporting documents were attached with the same. The appellant has               F
not filed any proof to show that it had given all required particulars in the
online application form. In the absence of the copy of the writ petition
having been filed before this Court, it cannot be ascertained as to whether
there was any such averment made even in the writ petition. It has also
not been stated by the appellant institution that the requisite documents         G
were filed along with the application form (which is categorically stated
by the respondent no. 1 to be incomplete). The very fact that the
certificate of affiliation was issued in favour of the appellant institution
by the Madhya Pradesh Medical Science University, Jabalpur, on
02.02.2019, which was much after the last date for submission of the
                                                                                  H
1024                 SUPREME COURT REPORTS                       [2019] 2 S.C.R.


 A     online application form, would make it clear that the said document of
       affiliation was not even available with the appellant institution at the time
       of filing of the online application form.
               12. In view of the aforesaid, we are of the firm view that the
       judgment of the Madhya Pradesh High Court cannot be faulted and
 B     there was no occasion for granting permission to the appellant
       institution for running the M.Sc (Nursing) course for the academic session
       2018-19. The appeal is devoid of merit and is, accordingly, dismissed.

       Nidhi Jain                                                    Appeal dismissed.

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