Karnataka High Court Nod To Inspection Of Nursing Colleges By Legislative Panel

A single judge bench of Justice M I Arun dismissed a batch of petitions filed by Hyderabad Karnataka Nursing Management Association, Karnataka Nursing Institutions Management Association and Karnataka State Association of the Management of Nursing & Allied Health Science Institutions. It said,

"The committee having power to take evidence or call for papers, records or documents for the purposes of its study, it has to be held that the committee has the power to visit the Nursing Colleges to study whether they are functioning in accordance with law or not."

It added,

"Committees are constituted by the legislature for various purposes including to study a prevailing situation regarding a particular subject, so that it can enlighten the legislators on the whole range of governmental actions and the information obtained can be used as a basis for legislation or administrative reforms."

Case Details:

A question was raised in the Karnataka Legislative Council regarding permission being granted to new Nursing Colleges and Allied Health Sciences Institutions for the academic year 2020-21 in spite of they not having the necessary infrastructure and violating the directions of Indian Nursing Council. It was suggested that a Legislative Committee has to be constituted to examine the irregularities.

The terms of reference thereof was notified in April 2021 and pursuant to the same, sub-committees were constituted.

The Petitioners argued that the discussions in the house pertained to Nursing Colleges and Allied Health Sciences Institutions which were granted permission afresh in the academic year 2020-21 alone and not in respect of all the Colleges. It was contended that a Special House Committee cannot be constituted to verify the functioning of all Nursing Colleges and Allied Health Sciences Institutions in the State. Further, it was said even otherwise a Special House Committee cannot visit the Colleges physically and verify their functioning.

Findings:

The bench referred to Clause (3) of Article 194 of the Constitution of India which speaks about powers, privileges and immunities of the Members and the Committees of a House of the Legislature of a State and they are similar to each other.

It said, "The privileges and powers of the Legislature of any State in India is similar to that of the House of Commons in the United Kingdom."

Then it referred to Rule 206 of the Rules of Procedure and Conduct of Business in the Karnataka Legislative Council, which provides that a committee has the power to send for persons, papers and records for recording evidence.

Following which it held, "Education, including technical education, medical education and Universities is part of item No.25 of the Concurrent List in Schedule-VII of the Constitution of India and the Nursing Colleges are governed by the Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947, which is Central Enactment and also the Karnataka Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act, 1961 and Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Act, 1994, which are Enactments of the Karnataka State. Thus, Karnataka State Legislature is empowered to legislate in respect of the Nursing Colleges and a committee can always be constituted by legislative council to study the performance of Nursing Colleges in the State of Karnataka."

Placing reliance on the judgments of the Supreme Court in the case of Kalpana Mehta & Ors. v. Union Of India & Ors., and in the case of Facebook v. Delhi Legislative Assembly, the bench said,

"There are alleged irregularities said to have been committed by the various Nursing Colleges, they are said to be operating and imparting education pertaining to various nursing courses even though, they are not meeting the standards prescribed by various authorities, more particularly the Indian Nursing Council and the authorities in charge of scrutinising the functioning of various colleges are turning a deliberate blind eye to the said irregularities. The legislature intends to verify the same and recommend suitable reforms for which the committee has been constituted to study the functioning of various nursing colleges in the State. No fault can be found in the constitution of the same."

Committee members cannot be permitted to harass the institutions

The bench in its order imposed certain restrictions on the committee. It said, "In the process of studying the functioning of Nursing Colleges, the committee members cannot be permitted to harass the institutions and their visit should be strictly limited to study/collect evidence as to whether the colleges are subscribing to the prescribed standards and it does not empower the committee members to threaten any legal action or issue any type of directions to the Nursing Colleges."

Further it said, "The visit should be during office hours and with due prior intimation to the colleges about the visit. The committee is constituted only to study the functioning of the colleges and not to supervise or perform the function of authorities under various laws, which govern the functioning of Nursing Colleges."

It also said, "Various authorities created under Indian Nursing Council Act, 1947, Karnataka Nurses, Midwives and Health Visitors Act, 1961, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Act, 1994 and the like which are empowered with regulating the conduct of Nursing Colleges in the State of Karnataka, if wants to initiate any action against any erring colleges, will have to do so in accordance with the respective enactments under which they function and not merely based on the findings of the committee constituted by Karnataka Legislative Council."

Case Title: HYDERABAD KARNATAKA NURSING MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION v. THE CHAIRMAN KARNATAKA LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL & Others

Case No: WRIT PETITION No.9438 OF 2022 C/w. WRIT PETITION No. 9441 OF 2022 & WRIT PETITION No.9456 OF 2022

Citation: 2022 LiveLaw (Kar) 321

Date of Order: 11TH DAY OF AUGUST 2022

Appearance: Senior Advocate REUBEN JACOB, FOR Advocate PAWAN KUMAR M N for petitioner. Senior Advocate A.S.PONNANNA, FOR Advocate PIYUSH KUMAR JAIN D. Senior Advocate UDAYA HOLLA, for Advocate T. KRISHNA, for petitioners; AAG DHYAN CHINNAPPA, a/w AGA S. RAJASHEKAR, FOR R1 TO R3; Advocate SHIVARUDRA, FOR R4; Advocate SUMANA BALIGA, FOR R5; Advocate N. K. RAMESH, FOR R6

Click Here To Read/Download Order