Supreme Court Orders Uttarakhand Medical College to Release Students’ Documents Despite Fee Dispute

The Supreme Court has provided relief to 91 students by directing a medical college in Uttarakhand to return their original documents, which had been withheld due to unpaid fee arrears

A bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, along with Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, made this decision after hearing arguments from senior lawyer Gaurav Agarwal and advocate Tanvi Dubey, who represented the students.

The students had argued that without their original documents, they could not register as medical practitioners or pursue higher education. The court ordered Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences in Dehradun to release the documents upon payment of ₹7.5 lakh by each student who completed their MBBS and internship. The students are required to provide an undertaking to pay the remaining fees later.

Previously, the college had increased the annual fees for All India quota students from ₹5 lakh to ₹13.22 lakh and for state quota students from ₹4 lakh to ₹9.78 lakh, applying the fee hike retroactively. The students, having completed their courses and internships, challenged this decision, arguing that they were being forced to pay exorbitant arrears in exchange for their documents.

The legal battle over the fee hike has been ongoing for several years, with a petition still pending in the Nainital High Court. The students contend that they were not informed about the fee increase when they enrolled and would have chosen different colleges had they known earlier.

The High Court had previously ordered the students to pay the full amount in nine installments, and the college had warned that internships could not begin until payments were made. Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the college, expressed concerns that once documents are released, it becomes difficult to collect outstanding dues, as some students disappear or issue checks that later bounce.

(With inputs from agency)