The State Asked For Papers That Form 2 Never Mentions
A trust that bought a shut medical college at a bank auction was told to get environmental approvals before the State would even consider its application. The Chief Justice's bench has said that is the wrong order of things.
The Court held that environmental clearance and Pollution Control Board approval, though mandatory before constructing or commissioning a medical institution, are not qualifying criteria under Form 2 for an Essentiality Certificate. Their absence cannot be a ground to withhold or defer processing it. The State was directed to consider the application strictly within Form 2, without insisting on those certificates first.
- Form 2 is the checklist. Doctor-population ratios and need, not environmental paperwork.
- No exemption was granted — the clearances still have to be shown before final approval.
- The Single Judge answered a case nobody made, the bench said, on whether the appellant could escape the certificates.
- The bigger question was left open: whether the 2014 certificate passed to the auction buyer.
- Court
- High Court of Judicature at Madras
- Bench
- Justice HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.ARUL MURUGAN
- Citation
- W.A. No. 83 of 2026
- Case
- W.A. No. 83 of 2026
- Decided
- 8 September 2026
- Outcome
- Writ appeal allowed; State directed to process Essentiality Certificate within Form 2
How the dispute began
The appellant bought about 37.9 acres on the East Coast Road at a bank's e-auction under the SARFAESI Act in July 2024, on an as is where is basis. The land had belonged to a trust that had an Essentiality Certificate from 2014 for a 150-seat medical college, which ran for a few years before recognition was refused and it closed.
The National Medical Commission rejected the appellant's application for 2025-26 because the certificate still stood in the old trust's name. The appellant then applied for a fresh certificate in August 2025.
In October 2025 the State asked it to first produce an Environmental Clearance Certificate and a Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board certificate. A Single Judge upheld that in December 2025.
What the Division Bench found
The Court set out Form 2, whose contents concern the number of existing institutions and seats, registered and government doctors, vacancies, the doctor-population ratio, how the college would meet shortages, and the justification for opening it.
Environmental compliances are mandatory before constructing or commissioning a medical institution under distinct environmental statutes, but they are not qualifying criteria under Form 2. Their absence at the threshold cannot serve as a ground for the State to withhold or defer processing the certificate.
The Court stressed it was not granting any exemption, and that the appellant had never asked for one: its case was that compliance can be shown later, before the Commission, at final approval. The Single Judge had also taken a Supreme Court ruling on conditional certificates further than it went.
The direction
The Single Judge's order was set aside and the appeal allowed.
The State is to process and consider the application strictly within the parameters and criteria in Form 2 of the 1999 Regulations and in accordance with law, without insisting on prior production of the environmental and Pollution Control Board certificates at this stage.
The other issues raised, including whether the 2014 certificate carried over to the auction purchaser, were left open to be decided in an appropriate case.
Who argued it
Appearances as recorded in the judgment of the Court.
Frequently asked
Can a State demand environmental clearance before issuing an Essentiality Certificate?
Not as a precondition. The Court held it is not a Form 2 criterion and cannot hold up processing.
Does that mean a medical college needs no environmental clearance?
No. The clearances remain mandatory before construction or commissioning and at final approval.
When the State adds conditions to an Essentiality Certificate
- Map every document demanded against the items in Form 2; anything outside it is open to challenge.
- Make clear you are not seeking exemption from environmental law, only the right sequence.
- Show where environmental compliance will be tested — before the Commission at final approval.
- Keep separate arguments, such as carry-over of old approvals, as independent grounds.
Source. High Court of Judicature at Madras, W.A. No. 83 of 2026, decided 8 September 2026 by Justice HONOURABLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE, Justice HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.ARUL MURUGAN. This explainer is written from the judgment text as reported.
Claw tracks High Court of Judicature at Madras and 24 other High Courts, reads every order handed back, and surfaces the directions that carry a deadline. clawlaw.in