Pending Criminal Case Not a Ground to Withhold MBBS Pass Certificate After Course Completion: Gauhati HC [Read Order]

Gauhati: The Gauhati High Court has ruled that the mere existence of a pending criminal case, without any finding of guilt, cannot justify the indefinite withholding of an original Final MBBS Pass Certificate of a candidate who has completed the prescribed course and internship and has also obtained medical registration from the competent authority.

Justice Budi Habung delivered the judgment on 12 June 2026 in Walia Murshida Huda v. State of Assam and Others [WP(C)/3190/2018], allowing the writ petition and directing Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, to issue the certificate within two months, subject to the final outcome of the pending criminal proceedings.

The petitioner, Walia Murshida Huda, was admitted to the MBBS course at Assam Medical College pursuant to a Government order dated 14 December 2010, whereby the Commissioner to the Government of Assam in the Health and Family Welfare Department permitted her and thirteen others to continue and complete the course. She completed the MBBS course in 2011 and completed her one-year internship on 24 January 2012. However, a criminal case had been registered in connection with her admission, and the investigation was subsequently taken over by the CBI. Despite the pendency of the criminal proceedings, the State Government, by a further order dated 14 October 2012, permitted the petitioner to continue and complete the course.

When the petitioner was not granted regular registration, she approached the High Court in WP(C)/868/2016. A coordinate Bench directed the respondent authorities to act in terms of the 2010 Government order and permit her registration. Pursuant to that direction, the Assam Council of Medical Registration granted her final registration on 31 March 2016 with effect from 1 April 2016. However, her original Final MBBS Pass Certificate was never issued. Her representations to the college authorities elicited no response, even though the university had issued original certificates to two similarly situated candidates, Jutitara Das and Aviral Watsa, a fact admitted by the respondents in their affidavit. She therefore filed the present writ petition seeking a direction for issuance of the certificate.

The respondents contended that the criminal case arising out of CBI FIR No. 02/2007 was still at the stage of evidence, with only ten of the forty-two prosecution witnesses having been examined, and that issuance of the certificate ought to await the outcome of the trial. The Court did not accept this as a sufficient ground for its indefinite withholding.

The Court held that since the petitioner had successfully completed both the MBBS course and the mandatory internship, and since the competent authority had already recognised her eligibility by granting registration, there was no lawful basis for withholding the certificate solely on account of a pending criminal trial in which no guilt had yet been adjudicated. The Court also noted the admitted disparity in treatment, observing that the university had already issued certificates to similarly placed candidates. The principle of parity, therefore, further reinforced the petitioner’s entitlement.

At the same time, the Court was careful to preserve the rights of all parties by making the issuance of the certificate and the consequential recognition of the petitioner’s qualification subject to the final outcome of the criminal proceedings arising from CBI FIR No. 02/2007 and any order that may ultimately be passed by the competent court.

The Court further directed the respondent authorities to take appropriate steps to forward or update the petitioner’s particulars before the concerned regulatory authority so that her registration is duly reflected in the official records.

Counsel for the petitioner: Mr. A. Ahmed.

Counsel for the respondents: Ms. S. Sarma, Standing Counsel (Health); Mr. N. C. Das, Senior Advocate, assisted by Ms. N. Devi (for Dibrugarh University).

Case: Walia Murshida Huda v. State of Assam and Others [WP(C)/3190/2018].

[Read Order]