The Supreme Court on Monday directed the Medical Education Commission and Kathmandu University to grant affiliation to Birtamod-based B&C Medical College owned by controversial businessman Durga Prasai.

In July 2020, Prasai had filed a writ petition against the commission and the varsity in the top court demanding its intervention. He had claimed that it was injustice to bar his college, which fulfils all the criteria, from affiliation.

In October that same year, he moved the court again saying the colleges that have set up infrastructure as prescribed by the government after getting a letter of intent cannot be barred from providing medical education. Countering his petition, an individual, Shashi Bikram Karki, moved the court saying Prasai’s college should not get affiliation.

A division bench of Justices Kumar Chudal and Saranga Subedi directed the concerned authorities not to stop medical affiliation to the B&C Medical College if it fulfils the requirement. “The bench has issued the order as demanded by Durga Prasai,” said Govind Ghimire, information officer at the court.

The college, which received the letter of intent from the Ministry of Education in 2014, had long been lobbying to get the affiliation to run the MBBS programme. It has all the infrastructure needed to run the medical programme.

In June 2021, the commission in consent from the university had given a green signal for the affiliation. The commission, chaired by then Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli, who was ex-officio chairperson of the commission, decided to grant the affiliation to the college once it fulfils the necessary legal procedure. Prasai was CPN-UML leader at the time and enjoyed a good relationship with Oli. Previously, he was active as a Maoist.

The bonding with Oli, however, didn't last long. These days, Prasai is critical of Oli and the UML, and has launched a campaign to reinstate the Hindu kingdom.

The commission’s attempts to give affiliation to Prasai’s college had failed following strong protest from Dr Govinda KC, an orthopaedic surgeon. KC, with support of some educationists, has for long been demanding radical reforms in the country’s medical education and health sector.

KC and other activists have claimed that the latest decision to grant affiliation to B&C College is against the National Medical Education Act-2019, which was endorsed by Parliament to address the concerns of Dr KC. Clause 13 (6) of the Act says whatsoever is written in other clauses, no university would be allowed to grant affiliations to more than five medical colleges once the Act comes into implementation.

However, there’s a provision in the clause that says the Act doesn’t bar providing affiliation to a college located outside the Kathmandu Valley which had gotten a letter of intent before the Act came into effect.

The B&C had gotten the letter of intent in 2014, around five years before the Act came into effect.

Supporters of Dr KC had been saying that as Kathmandu University and Tribhuvan University have already given affiliation to more than five medical colleges, they cannot allow B&C to run MBBS classes.

However, they say they wouldn’t object if Purbanchal University provides affiliation on the condition it runs its own constituent medical wing first to qualify to grant affiliations to private entities.