In Brief
The Dental Council of India amended Regulation 6(2)(h), requiring new dental colleges to attach with recognized Medical Colleges within 10 kilometers rather than merely managing 100-bed hospitals. Biyani Shikshan Samiti challenged this amendment as beyond the Council's powers and violative of Articles 14 and 19(1)(g). The High Court Division Bench struck down the notification. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that the Council, as an expert statutory body, possessed power under Section 20(2)(fb) read with Section 10A(7)(g) of the Dentists Act, 1948 to prescribe additional conditions. The regulation satisfied rational-nexus and academic-standards tests. No manifest arbitrariness was shown. The Court declined to substitute its judgment for the expert body's. Res judicata principles also barred the petition, as the same relief had been rejected earlier by the single judge.
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