Supreme Court Orders Uttarakhand Medical College to Return Withheld Documents of 91 Students Over Fee Dispute
Students required to pay Rs 7.5 lakh and submit affidavits for fee arrears as college's fee hike is challenged
The Supreme Court has directed a medical college in Uttarakhand to return the original documents of 91 students, which were withheld due to non-payment of fees. Senior advocates Gaurav Agarwal and Tanvi Dubey, representing the students, argued before a bench led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud that without their original documents, the students could neither register as doctors nor pursue higher education.
The court ordered the Dehradun-based medical college to return the documents to students who had completed their MBBS and internships, upon payment of Rs 7.5 lakh. The students are required to submit an affidavit promising to pay the remaining fee arrears.
The issue arose when the medical college raised the annual fees for All India quota students from Rs 5 lakh to Rs 13.22 lakh. Students, who had completed their studies, contested the fee hike, stating that they would have opted for colleges with lower fees in their home states had they known earlier. The High Court had previously ordered the students to pay the full amount in 9 installments.
