Terming the state of medical colleges in the country as “rotten”, the Supreme Court on Friday imposed a penalty of Rs5 crore on an Odisha-based private medical college for raising the number of seats from 100 to 150 in an academic year and “playing with the future of students”.
“Costs of Rs5 crore are imposed on Kalinga Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) for playing with the future of its students and the mess that it has created for them. The amount will be deposited by KIMS in the Registry of this Court within six weeks from today. The amount of Rs5 crore so deposited towards costs shall not be recovered in any manner from any student or adjusted against the fees or provision of facilities for students of any present or subsequent batches,” a Bench comprising Justices MB lokur and NV Ramana said.
The Surpreme Court Bench, however, protected the students who were admitted in the year 2015-16 in the courses run by the medical college administration.