Administrative Law: Policy decision – Judicial review – Medical college – Pursuant to the direction by the High Court, reconstitution of Society for the Tripura Medical College by the State Government – Society having its own recruitment rules and a pay structure – Writ petition by the appellant challenging the admission procedure and fees charged from the students contending that these to be at par with other government medical colleges – Dismissed by the High Court – On appeal, held: Whether the State government should run the College as a department of the government depends upon numerous circumstances, including the availability of resources and the expertise to run a medical college in the State – High Court held that if the State government were not to administer the Tripura Medical College as an adjunct of the State, it should constitute an independent society – State government acting pursuant to those directions constituted a society with its own Memorandum and Bye-laws – It is a matter of policy for the State government to determine the manner in which it should retain administrative oversight so as to ensure that its interest in the proper functioning of the Tripura Medical College is duly observed – If the government has chosen a hybrid model in which a society has been constituted for the purpose of running the Medical College while, at the same time, allowing the government some voice in important policy decisions, this is not an arrangement which can be questioned in the exercise of judicial review – Thus, the correctness of a policy decision taken by the State government cannot be determined – Also, the Court cannot arrive at an a priori view on the reasonableness of the fees.
As published in the Supreme Court Reports, Supreme Court of India. Text from the Indian Supreme Court Judgments open data set (Dattam Labs), CC BY 4.0.
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