Disposed

Sneha Chandran v. Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and Research Centre.

Karnataka HC17 Sept 2026WP/5054/2026

Case brief

AI extract

What is this about?

The High Court of Karnataka directed a medical college to return a student's original educational certificates after she fulfilled an undertaking to pay Rs.5 lakh in prior litigation. The court relied on UGC guidelines prohibiting retention of original documents and a previous judgment holding that institutions cannot withhold certificates as leverage for fee payment.

What did the court decide?

Respondent No.1 directed to return all original educational certificates of the petitioner within seven days from receipt of the order.

Sneha Chandran Vs Vydehi Institute of Medical… — Education and Admissions | Karnataka HC (2026)

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HC-KAR NC: 2026:KHC:50734 WP No. 5054 of 2026

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CNR: KAHC010110432026

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IN THE HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA AT BENGALURU

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DATED THIS THE 17^TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER, 2026 BEFORE

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THE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S SUNIL DUTT YADAV WRIT PETITION NO. 5054 OF 2026 (EDN-RES)

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BETWEEN:

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SNEHA CHANDRAN D/O RAMACHANDRAN T, AGED ABOUT 26 YEARS, R/AT NO.59, 4TH CROSS, BALAJI STREET, RAMAMURTHY NAGAR, BENGALURU 560016

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…PETITIONER

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(BY SRI. PRADEEP PATIL, ADVOCATE) AND:

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Digitally signed by PRAKASH N Location: HIGH COURT OF KARNATAKA

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VYDEHI INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AND RESEARCH CENTRE., NO. 82, EPIP AREA, WHITEFIELD, BENGALURU - 560 066 (REP BY ITS PRINCIPAL)

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RAJIV GANDHI UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES., 4TH T BLOCK, JAYANAGAR, BENGALURU - 560 041

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…RESPONDENTS (BY SRI. SAMARTH SHREEDHAR, ADVOCATE FOR R1

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SMT. FARAH FATHIMA, ADVOCATE FOR R2)

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HC-KAR

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NC: 2026:KHC:50734 WP No. 5054 of 2026

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CNR: KAHC010110432026

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THIS WP IS FILED UNDER ARTICLES 226 AND 227 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA PRAYING TO-DIRECTING THE RESPONDENT TO CONSIDER THE REPRESENTATION DATED 20.11.2025 AND 07-01-2026 TO FORTHWITH RETURN ALL THE ORIGINAL EDUCATIONAL CERTIFICATES OF THE PETITIONER SUBMITTED AT THE TIME OF ADMISSION PRODUCED AS ANNEXURE D AND E.

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THIS PETITION, COMING ON FOR PRELIMINARY HEARING IN B GROUP, THIS DAY, ORDER WAS MADE THEREIN AS UNDER:

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CORAM: HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE S SUNIL DUTT YADAV

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ORAL ORDER

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The present petition is filed seeking for a direction to respondent No.1 to consider the

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representation and return all the original educational certificates of the petitioner submitted at the time of admission.

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It is noticed that in an earlier round of litigation in W.P.No.22193/2023, the petitioner had approached this court and there are observations made regarding an undertaking by the petitioner herein to pay the amount of

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3 - NC: 2026:KHC:50734 WP No. 5054 of 2026

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HC-KAR

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CNR: KAHC010110432026

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Rs.5,00,000/- to respondent No.1-institution. The said writ petition was disposed of 23.02.2024. The receipts evidencing the payment of sum of Rs.5,00,000/- as undertaken in the previous round of litigation is enclosed at Annexures-B and B1.

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In light of the same, respondent No.1institution is directed to return all the original educational testimonials without further delay. The observations made in W.P.No.23250/2026, in the case of Miss. Sannidhi J Shetty vs. The Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences and others, would be of relevance and observations made at paras 9 to 12 is extracted below:

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"9. Perused the Circular bearing No.RGUHS/SWF/DSW/GRC/33/2016-17 dated 10.11.2016 issued by the first respondent. The relevant contents of the said Circular is extracted below:

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"Hon'ble High Court of Karnataka in the reference cited above, has ordered that the college is not justified in withholding the testimonials of the

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HC-KAR

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NC: 2026:KHC:50734 WP No. 5054 of 2026

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CNR: KAHC010110432026

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student on the ground that she has failed to pay the fees which she was bound to pay. The Hon'ble Court has felt that if any such obligation is present on the part of the student, it is open for the college to recover the same by means known to law. The Hon'ble court further added that it is not open for the institution to "blackmail" as it were, to pay the fees by withholding the original documents.

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In view of the above, it is advised to the Principals of all affiliated colleges of this University to follow the guidelines issued by the University Grants Commission and facilitate the students to leave their institution whenever they wish to, by returning the original documents and refund the fees wherever due without any undue delay and avoid situation that compels the students/parents to seek the intervention of University/ Commission/court etc.

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It is also to be noticed that University Grants Commission has issued notification in October, 2018 on refund of fees and non-retention of original certificates. A perusal of the said notification indicated that even at the time of admission, verification of the certificates of candidates is required to be done and attested copies be retained while returning the original documents.

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HC-KAR

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NC: 2026:KHC:50734 WP No. 5054 of 2026

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CNR: KAHC010110432026

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Para 4.2 deals with Verification and Nonretention of students' Academic and Personal Certificates which reads as under:

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" 4.2 Verification and Non-retention of Students' Academic and Personal certificates

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4.2.1 No HEI shall insist upon a student to submit the original academic and personal certificates, like, mark-sheets, school leaving certificates and other such documents, at the time of submitting admission form, but the submission of self-attested copies thereof shall be mandatory.

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4.2.2 HEIs shall physically verify the originals at the time of admission of the student in his/her presence and return them immediately after satisfying themselves about their authenticity, keeping the attested copies for their record.

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4.2.3 The self-attested certificates of students shall be held valid and authentic by institution concerned and/or the affiliating university for all purposes and administrative requirements and should there be a need for physical verification at any time during the course of

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HC-KAR

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NC: 2026:KHC:50734 WP No. 5054 of 2026

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CNR: KAHC010110432026

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the programme of study, such verification shall be undertaken and the original certificates thus used for verification shall be returned immediately to the student concerned.

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4.2.4 Taking the certificates into institutional custody under any circumstance or pretext is strictly prohibited.

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4.2.5 In case of any suspicion over the authenticity or genuineness of a certificate, reference may be made to university or the Board which issued the certificate to the student and the admission be subjected to the authentication, but original certificate shall not be retained by the HEI under any circumstance."

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If that were to be so, the question of collecting original certificates itself does not arise. Insofar as violation of UGC Circular, punitive action by the Commission against defaulting Higher Education Institutions is provided at para 5. Accordingly, the question of retaining the original certificates of the student would not arise."

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4. Accordingly, the writ petition is disposed of .

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HC-KAR

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NC: 2026:KHC:50734 WP No. 5054 of 2026

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CNR: KAHC010110432026

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