Mumbai: The Bombay high court has come down heavily on a nursing institute that has given admission to more students than its permitted capacity, despite a previous court order restraining it from doing so. The court applied a cost of Rs 50,000 on the institution for its audacity of approaching the court for regularising the 30 additional students it had admitted beyond the capacity and dismissed the petition.
A division bench of Justices B.R. Gavai and Riyaz Chagla was hearing a writ petition filed by Sahara Institute of Nursing, Solapur seeking directions to the state for regularise students it had admitted for the current academic year in excess of its intake capacity.
After hearing the petitioner’s submissions through senior counsel Uday Warunjikar, the court’s attention was drawn to an order of the court issued last year and the undertaking given by the petitioner. Last year the institute had filed a similar petition and the court allowed the regularisation of excess students on the condition that the institution would comply with the policy laid down by the state by not admitting students beyond its approved capacity.
On being made aware of the institution’s undertaking, the counsel prayed for the permission to withdraw the current petition. However, the court disallowed it and said, “Taking into consideration the seriousness of the matter, we are of the view that a right message must go to the unscrupulous litigants. We refuse the permission to withdraw the petition and proceed to decide the matter on merit.”
The court said that the present petition was a misuse and abuse of process of law. “Even after specific undertaking to the court that the petitioner will not admit in excess than what is permissible, the petitioner has again admitted 30 more students this year. The petitioner has now approached the court seeking regularisation for the excess admissions. We are amazed at the audacity of the petitioner, who has again approached this court when a specific undertaking was given.
