Deputy Commissioner Has No Expertise To Inspect Nursing Institutes, Can Be Done Only By Specialised Agencies: Karnataka High Court

The Karnataka High Court has set aside a November 5, 2024 communication issued by the Principal Secretary, Family and Welfare Department, directing Deputy Commissioners of all the districts in the State to carry out inspection of Nursing Institutions situated within their jurisdiction.

Justice Suraj Govindaraj held thus while allowing the petition filed by Karnataka State Private Management Association of Health Institutions.

Noting that the letter issued is only an instruction and not a policy decision, it said “The Deputy Commissioner not having any expertise in educational facilities, the nature of the subject experts, the qualification thereof, not having been indicated in the instruction dated 5-11 2024, I am of the considered opinion that the said letter is completely arbitrary, the exercise of powers by the Deputy Commissioner is unbridled and such inspection is not under any particular enactment.”

For context, in a meeting held on September 2, 2024 the state's Minister of Medical Education, in order to verify the standards of Nursing education and the infrastructure of Nursing Institutions, had opined that inspection of Nursing Institutions would have to be carried out through the Deputy Commissioners to ascertain if all the requirements and the relevant laws have been complied with or not. Pursuant to this the communication was issued by Principal Secretary. 

The court further added “The intent of the Hon'ble Minister may be noble and proper and in order to protect the interest of the students and parents, but, however, taking into consideration the legal aspects, these inspections can only be carried out by the concerned specialised agencies, in case of Nursing colleges and schools, by the RGUHS, INC and KNC.”

The petitioners had contended that the Deputy Commissioner does not have any wherewithal; he does not know the intricacies and nuances of the functioning of Nursing Institutions, and as such, he would not be a competent person to carry out such inspections even with the assistance of Nursing experts as indicated in the said letter. There are specialised agencies which have been established for such purposes.

Further, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), Indian Nursing Council (INC) and Karnataka State Nursing Council (KNC) play a pivotal role in the sanction, administration and supervision of Nursing Institutions.

The state government contended that the State Government decides on the approval of the establishment of Nursing colleges and schools. On receiving complaints from students and parents the Minister observed that it is necessary to provide quality education to students and directed a circular to be issued to the District Commissioners

Findings:

The bench noted that none can dispute that Karnataka is regarded as an education hub where students from other States come to avail education. It is also trite that there are several complaints which are received from the students and or the parents as regards the functioning of colleges in general, Nursing colleges and Nursing schools, in particular. When such complaints are made, the legal niceties of specialized agencies like RGUHS, INC or KNC being available is not taken into consideration by such complainants since they probably are not aware of the same.

It said, “It is probably on account of this that the Hon'ble Minister felt the need to direct the Deputy Commissioner to conduct the inspection of the Nursing colleges/schools so as to ascertain if the infrastructure provided is proper and correct and if the colleges are performing their actions in a proper manner.”

Then held, “Under these Acts, there are specialized persons with special qualifications who are appointed as inspectors, who could carry out such inspections to ascertain whether all the infrastructure and facilities are provided. The Deputy Commissioner, even with the assistance of the specialized agencies, in my considered opinion, cannot substitute the specialized agencies like RGUHS, INC and KNC.”

In order to ensure that inspection reports are uploaded on website and made available to all the concerned, as also for viewing by the students and parents before seeking admission. The court issued the following general directions to the authorities.

Directions to Indian Nursing Council(INC): The INC is directed to set up a web portal where all the inspection reports are uploaded by the INC, State wise, district wise and college-wise, as regards all aspects which come under the administrative supervision of the INC.
INC is also directed to provide necessary Application Programming Interface (APIs) to RGUHS, KNC and the Health and Family Welfare Department to automatically access the data uploaded by INC on its website with reference to the particular college/school/Institution.

Directions to Karnataka Nursing Council: The KNC is directed to set up a web portal where all the inspection reports are uploaded by the KNC college-wise, as regards all aspects which come under the administrative supervision of the KNC.
KNC is also directed to provide necessary Application Programming Interface (APIs) to RGUHS, INC and the Health and Family Welfare Department to automatically access the data uploaded by KNC on its website with reference to the particular college/school/Institution.

Directions to RGUHS: The RGUHS is directed to set up a web portal where all the inspection reports are uploaded by the RGUHS college-wise, as regards all aspects which come under the administrative supervision of the RGUHS.
RGUHS is also directed to provide necessary Application Programming Interface (APIs) to INC, KNC and the Health and Family Welfare Department to automatically access the data uploaded by RGUHS on its website with reference to the particular college/school/Institution.

The above information, data and inspection reports, as regards the infrastructure facility at each of the colleges, schools, Institutions, as also all licenses, sanctions, etc., issued by the concerned authority would have to be uploaded onto websites of the respective Universities.

The details of any litigations that the particular education Institution is involved in are to be uploaded.

A detailed project report by each of the above organizations to be submitted within a period of six weeks from today from the date of receipt of a certified copy of this order.

The details of any complaints received by the INC, KNC and RGUHS to be uploaded on their respective web portal with an option to submit an online grievance by any student, parent or teacher/lecturer to be also made available, on the said portal.

A grievance redressal mechanism to be also established in this regard by the authority concerned.

Case Title: Karnataka State Private Management Association of Health Institutions AND State of Karnataka & Others

Appearance: Senior Advocate M.S Shyam Sundar for Advocate Krishna T. Advocate Pradeep Kumar P K for Petitioners.

AGA Mamatha Shetty for R1.

Advocate Shiva Rudra for R2.

Advocate Mamatha G Kulkarni FOR R3.

Advocate Jyothi M Maradi for R4.

Citation No: 2025 LiveLaw (Kar) 182

Case No: WRIT PETITION NO. 32106 OF 2024 (EDN-RES) C/W WRIT PETITION NO. 32185 OF 2024.

Click Here To Read/Download Order