In Brief
The Medical Council of India challenged Kerala's Ordinance of 2017 that sought to regularise 180 medical students whose admissions had been cancelled for procedural irregularities. The Supreme Court held that while legislatures can retrospectively amend laws to cure defects, they cannot nullify binding judicial decisions. The online application procedure for MBBS admissions was mandated by the High Court and affirmed by the Supreme Court. By allowing regularisation without regard to this mandatory procedure, the Ordinance sought to undo what the judgment prescribed. The Court declared the Ordinance ultra vires as it violated the doctrine of separation of powers enshrined in Articles 14 and 50, permitting the executive to override judicial determinations. The writ petition was allowed.
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