No Right to MBBS Certificate – Fees from Terrorist Funding
the Judgment dated 17.6.2026 of the High Court of Madras in W.A. No.2422 of 2025 of Puja Kumari Vs. The Union of India and others
No Right to MBBS Degree Certificate when Fees from Terrorist Funding
No equitable right of the student to the MBBS degree
Once the NIA seized and appropriated the fees amount of MBBS student, the account of the Medical College has legally become defaulted to an “unpaid status”.
puja-kumari-vs-union-of-india-2202582.pdf
During the MBBS course, the appellant – student had periodically remitted total fees of Rs.1,13,70,500/- to the college account.
However, the respondent no.4 NIA, during the course of criminal investigation, found that the said fees of the appellant was directly derived from the illegal, extorted funds raised on behalf of the Communist Party of India (Moist), a proscribed terrorist organization.
NIA issued the seizure notice to the respondent no.5 college resulting in seizure and appropriation of the entire fee from the college, under UAPA Act 1967.
Consequently, the respondent no.5 withheld the completion certificate of the appellant for non-realization of legitimate institutional fees. The appellant, therefore, filed the writ petition.
The charge-sheet submitted by the NIA specifically arrays the appellant’s immediate family members, namely her brother Tarun Kumar (A-1) and her paternal uncle Pradyuman Sharma (A-2), as key operational masterminds raising extorted funds for a banned terrorist outfit. The investigation established that the funds transferred into the bank account of the fifthrespondent college towards the appellant’s education were directly traceable back to these illegal terrorist funding.
While it may be true that the appellant is not directly arrayed as an accused in her individual capacity, she cannot assert an equitable right to benefit from the fruits of a crime. The moment the NIA seized and appropriated the fee amount from the college, the appellant’s account with the institution legally defaulted to an unpaid status. The fifth respondent, a private institution, has already utilized its resources, infrastructure, and faculty to train the appellant. Forcing the institution to release the certificates when it has effectively received zero clean currency for her education would be a gross miscarriage of equity and justice. In our firm view, the learned Single Judge rightly held that the fifth respondent college is not obligated to release the certificates until its rightful dues are reimbursed by clean, untainted means
