Pending Criminal Case No Bar to MBBS Certificate: Gauhati HC Directs Assam Medical College to Issue Pass Certificate Within Two Months

Gauhati High Court holds that mere pendency of a CBI criminal case cannot justify indefinitely withholding an MBBS pass certificate from a doctor who completed her course and secured registration.

The Gauhati High Court has directed the Principal of Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh to issue the original Final MBBS Pass certificate to petitioner Walia Murshida Huda within two months, rejecting the college's implicit reliance on a pending CBI criminal case as justification for withholding the document. Justice Budi Habung, sitting singly, held that the pendency of a criminal proceeding, absent any adjudication of guilt, cannot by itself form a valid basis for indefinitely denying a pass certificate to a candidate who has successfully completed her MBBS course, her statutory internship, and has already been granted medical registration by the competent authority. The directions are, however, expressly made subject to the final outcome of the criminal case.

The Dispute Before the High Court

Walia Murshida Huda was admitted to the MBBS course at Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh pursuant to a Government of Assam order. A criminal case was registered and placed under CBI investigation in connection with the admissions of the petitioner and others. Despite this, the Government of Assam, by an order dated 14 October 2012, permitted the petitioner and similarly situated candidates to continue and complete the MBBS course.

The petitioner completed the MBBS course in 2011 and finished her one-year internship on 24 January 2012. When Dibrugarh University, respondent No. 5, declined to grant her regular registration, she approached the Gauhati High Court in an earlier writ petition, WP(C) 868/2016. By order dated 18 March 2016, a co-ordinate Bench directed the respondent authorities to act in terms of the Government order dated 14 December 2010 and allow the petitioner to obtain registration. Pursuant to that direction, the Assam Council of Medical Registration, Khanapara, Guwahati, issued the petitioner's final registration on 1 April 2016.

Even after registration was granted, the original Final MBBS Pass certificate was not issued to the petitioner. Representations made to the college authority went unheeded. The petitioner then filed WP(C) 3190/2018 under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeking a direction to compel issuance of the certificate.

The Legal Issue

The central question was whether the pendency of a criminal case — arising from CBI FIR No. 02/2007 relating to the manner of admission — could justify the indefinite withholding of the original Final MBBS Pass certificate from a candidate who had completed the course, the internship, and had been granted statutory registration.

The petitioner's counsel pointed to a significant admission by Dibrugarh University in its own affidavit: the original Final MBBS Pass certificates had already been issued to two other similarly situated candidates, Jutitara Das and Aviral Watsa. With 42 prosecution witnesses listed in the criminal trial and only 10 examined so far, the trial was expected to continue for a considerable period. The petitioner argued that withholding her certificate while issuing it to others in identical circumstances was both prejudicial and contrary to the principle of parity.

How the Bench Reasoned

Justice Habung examined the sequence of events and found that the authorities had, at multiple points, acknowledged the petitioner's successful completion of the MBBS course. The Government had permitted her to continue and complete the course by its 2012 order. The Court itself had directed her registration in 2016. The Assam Council of Medical Registration had acted on that direction. Each of these steps, the Court observed, amounted to an acknowledgment of the petitioner's eligibility.

The Court identified the sole ground for withholding the certificate as the pendency of the CBI criminal case. It found this ground insufficient. The judgment states that mere pendency of a criminal proceeding, without there being any adjudication of guilt, cannot by itself consist a valid basis for indefinite withholding of the pass certificate, particularly given the completion of the course, the internship, and the grant of registration.

The admission in Dibrugarh University's own affidavit that certificates had been issued to Jutitara Das and Aviral Watsa — described as similarly situated candidates — was a material factor. The Court found that continuing to withhold the certificate from the petitioner alone, in those circumstances, caused prejudice and was inconsistent with the treatment of others in the same position.

At the same time, the Court was careful to preserve the rights of all parties in the criminal proceeding. It made clear that the issuance of the certificate and the consequential recognition of the petitioner's qualification would remain subject to the final outcome of the criminal case arising from CBI FIR No. 02/2007 and any order that the competent Court may pass in that matter.

Directions Issued

Justice Habung directed respondent No. 5, the Principal of Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, to issue and deliver the original Final MBBS Pass certificate to the petitioner within two months of receipt of a certified copy of the order, if not already issued.

The Court also 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 particulars are duly reflected in official records, to the extent this had not already been done.

Both directions were made expressly subject to the final outcome of the criminal proceeding in CBI FIR No. 02/2007. Any order passed by the competent Court in that criminal case would govern the continued validity of the certificate and the recognition of the petitioner's qualification.

Outcome

The writ petition WP(C) 3190/2018 was allowed to the extent indicated. The judgment was reserved on 9 June 2026 and pronounced on 12 June 2026 by Justice Budi Habung of the Gauhati High Court.