DENTAL COUNCIL OF INDIA versus S.R.M. INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND ANR.

Citation: [2004] 3 S.C.R. 755 · Decided: 05-04-2004 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: S. RAJENDRA BABU · Disposal: Case Partly allowed

Judgment (excerpt)

, 
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DENTAL COUNCIL OF INDIA 
A 
\'. 
S.R.M. INSTITUTE OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY AND ANR. 
APRIL 5, 2004 
(S. RAJENDRA BABU AND G.P. MATHUR, JJ.] 
B 
Education/Educational Institutions: 
Writ Petition flied for grant of permission to start new M.D.S. Courses 
without insisting on requirement of essentiality certificate from State c 
Government-High Court directing Government of India to process the 
application and also to do necessary inspection thereof-Government directing 
• 
Dental Council of India to take appropriate actio~High Court disposed of 
the petition directing the Government to pass appropriate order on the 
application after taking into consideration the inspection report-Writ Appeal D 
dismissed by High Court-:On appeal, Held: The process of the Courts/Law 
~ 
should not be allowed to subvert the law-Without essentiality certificate, 
.,. 
application incomplete-High Court erred in directing the Government to 
process the incomplete application- Applicant/Institution should furnish the 
essentia/ity certificate/other requisite documents along with the application-
Dental Council of India/ Government of India should process the application, E 
if so received, in accordance with law and pass appropriate orders. 
First respondent-Institute filed a writ petition for quashing order 
dated 6.6.2003 of the Ministry of Health and Family Planning, Government 
> 
of India and also to direct them to process their application proposing to 
}( 
start six new M.D.S. Courses in the Institute without insisting on furnishing F 
essentiality certificate from the State Government. High Court, vide its 
interim order, directed the Government of India to process the application. 
Government of India asked Dental Council of India to take necessary 
action accordingly. High Court finally disposed of the petition, directing 
the Government of India to pass appropriate orders. Writ appeal was G 
dismissed by the High Court. Hence the present appeals . 
• • 
Appellant-Council contended that essentiality certificate is a pre-
·requisite and need to be furnished along with the application proposing 
to start new course; that the Dental Council being a statutory body the 
755 
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756 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
.[2004] 3 S.C.R. 
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A State Government undertake certain obligation while issuing the 
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essentiality certificate, thus both of them ought to have been impleaded 
as parties in the proceedings; and that unless all the formalities completed 
as per the Regulations and confirmed by the Dental College, no permission 
could be granted to start a new course. 
B 
First-respondent submitted that the appellant was bound to forward 
its report to the Government of India in terms of Section IOA(3) of the 
Dental Act; that they had already incurred huge expenditure on staff and 
maintenance for starting the proposed courses; that in the inspection 
report no deficiency has been pointed out by the Council/Government of 
c India; and that essentiality certificate would not serve any useful purpose 
at the belated stage, and thus should not be insisted upon. 
Partly allowing the appeals, the Court 
HELD: I.I. The High Court made an interim order to.complete the 
D processing of the application including inspection even in the absence of 
the permission or essentiality certificate from the State Government in 
... 
terms of the regulations framed by the Dental Council of India. The 
process of the Courts or the process of law should not be allowed to subvert 
... 
the law. (760-A-Bf 
E 
1.2. The High Court ought not to have made an interim order to 
process the application even in the absence of the permission or essentiality 
certificate as the application would not be complete without being 
accompanied by permission or essentiality certificate by the State 
Government along with certain other requisite documents. An incomplete 
application cannot be processed either by the Central Government or the 
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F. Dental Council. To decide such matter even in the absence of the Dental 
)'. 
Council and the State Government as if they have no role to play in the 
matter is only to by-pass the law, when statutory duties have been assigned 
and each one of those authorities have got separate roles to play. It may 
be that the Government of India takes the ultimate decision in the matter 
G but to state that these authorities only aid the Government of India and 
hence it is not necessary to make them a party to the proceedings is not 
, 
at all 

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