Kerala HC Deems Kannur Dental College’s 100-Seat BDS Affiliation Continued For 2026-27, But Rejects Fresh Seat Allotment After Schedule Ends

Kannur Dental College, which had previously received annual continuation of affiliation, applied for continuation for the 2026–27 academic year.

Following inspections and a show-cause process, the University’s Registrar rejected the application by order dated 16 October 2026.

The College challenged that order, contending that the Registrar lacked authority to decide the affiliation application and that, in the absence of a valid decision by the competent authority before expiry of the existing affiliation, continuation should be deemed for another year under Jubilee Mission Medical College & Research Institute v. University of Calicut.

The University accepted that the Registrar lacked statutory authority but argued that the Jubilee Mission principle did not apply because the College’s affiliation was conditional, not provisional.

Section 51(4) of the Kerala University of Health Sciences Act, 2010 provides that affiliation procedures are prescribed by the Statutes, while Section 53(1) permits an affiliated college to apply for continuation and requires the University to follow the prescribed procedure.

Section 23(v) vests the power to affiliate medical institutions in the Governing Council; Section 14 sets out the Registrar’s powers, which the Court found to be administrative rather than statutory in this context.

Section 12(7) gives the Vice-Chancellor specified powers to act in an emergency.

Clause 2(5)(ix)(16) of the First Statutes governs conditional affiliation, including the specification of conditions and the period for their fulfilment.

Under Jubilee Mission Medical College & Research Institute v. University of Calicut and Others, 2008 (4) KLT 966, where the University does not decide continuation or confirmation before expiry of provisional affiliation, the affiliation is treated as extended for one further year.

The Court held that the Act and Statutes vested the affiliation decision in the Governing Council, not the Registrar; the University also conceded that the Registrar lacked that authority.

Accordingly, the Registrar’s rejection order was non est and had to be set aside.

The Court rejected the University’s distinction between conditional and provisional affiliation: the Statutes did not establish two separate categories for this purpose, and a conditional affiliation granted for an academic year was also provisional in nature.

Because the competent authority had not decided the continuation application before expiry of the affiliation, the rule in Jubilee Mission applied.

However, as the BDS admission process had ended, the Court declined to order a fresh stray-vacancy allotment.

The Court set aside the Registrar’s order dated 16 October 2026 and declared that the College had deemed continuation of affiliation to conduct the BDS course with an intake of 100 seats for 2026–27.

It rejected the request for a fresh stray-vacancy allotment because the admission process had concluded.