KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday severely criticised the Justice P A Mohammed Committee.A Division Bench comprising Justice J Chelameswar and Justice Antony Dominic said that the committee should be able to implement its own order and there was no need to approach the court.The court criticised the committee during the hearing of an appeal filed by it challenging a single judge’s order granting permission to the managements of self-financing medical colleges to exact Rs 3.5 lakh as annual fees.The Bench also granted permission by staying the order issued by the committee on April 14, fixing Rs 2.4 lakh as annual fees which the managements claimed to be insufficient.“It is not fair for the committee to approach the court to justify the orders issued by it. By approaching the court with an appeal, the committee is acting more loyal than the king,” the court observed.“The committee was constituted by the state government.Therefore, the state government should have challenged the single judge’s order. Besides, it is the responsibility of the state government to ensure that the order of the committee is being complied with. The appeal by a committee, which has quasi-judicial power, sounds quite unusual,” the court observed.“The committee should not issue orders that are difficult to be implemented,” the court said. Counsel for the committee submitted that appeal was filed against the observation that the committee does not have the authority to fix fees.The court directed the state government to file an affidavit regarding the fees structure in self-financing colleges. The court also directed the committee to produce documents to establish its authority to file an appeal.The case was adjourned to June 20.
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