New Delhi:The Supreme Court on Wednesday sought responses from the Uttarakhand government and others, including a medical college, on a plea of four students seeking a refund of approximately Rs 18 lakh each in excess fees paid to secure the release of their original documents.
A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra took note of the submissions of lawyer Tanvi Dubey, appearing for the medical students, and issued notices to the state government, Shri Guru Ram Rai Institute of Medical and Health Sciences College in Dehradun and the Shri Guru Ram Rai University.
The plea has been filed by Jaandeep Singh, Avantika, Heena Nandwani and Ritika Aneja. According to the plea, in view of urgent reasons, including NEET-PG counselling and job opportunities, the students were forced to pay the entire sum of Rs 25.77 lakh for the all-India quota and Rs 17.26 lakh for state quota to the college to get their certificates back.
In pursuance of the apex court's September 9 order, the students asked the college to refund the balance amount after deducting Rs 7.5 lakh, it said. However, the medical college refused to refund the amount to the students, the plea said.
On September 9, the top court granted relief to similarly situated 91 students, asking the medical college to release their original documents withheld by the institute on the payment of Rs 7.5 lakh.
It had asked the students to give an undertaking that they would pay the balance amount if a judicial decision on the fee row orders so. The original documents in question include essential educational certificates, such as MBBS degrees and internship completion certificates, without which the students could not participate in vital career and academic activities.
The high court had directed the students to pay the entire amount in nine instalments. The college had issued a notice stating that the internship cannot start unless payments are made.
