New Delhi: In a major setback to Delhi’s medical aspirants, Jamia Hamdard University has withdrawn all 150 MBBS and 49 postgraduate medical seats for the 2025-26 academic year.
The move, which comes just before the NEET counselling for deemed universities starting on July 21, follows allegations of large-scale financial irregularities, regulatory lapses, and an administrative deadlock over the governance of its medical institute – Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (HIMSR).
The National Medical Commission’s (NMC) tentative seat matrix for the new academic session shows “zero” seats for HIMSR, which was established in the year 2012 as part of Jamia Hamdard’s healthcare education expansion plans.
In a June 6 letter to NMC, the university registrar said it was unable to exercise administrative control over HIMSR’s online portals and admissions due to “unauthorised interference by private parties.” The letter stated, “Under these extraordinary circumstances, the university is constrained to withdraw its consent of affiliation for MBBS and PG seats for 2025-26.”
Vice-chancellor Prof Mohammad Afshar Alam said: “I have repeatedly instructed the management of the medical college to strictly adhere to UGC regulations, which are mandatory for all deemed universities. Unfortunately, they have acted in contravention of these norms.”
“The university remains fully committed to complying with UGC guidelines. Since the matter is now before the court, we are hopeful of a positive outcome in the interest of students.
Without this resolution, we cannot proceed with registering new students. Third-party interference in university affairs is wholly unlawful, and had the NMC acted with the seriousness that the situation demanded, this crisis could have been totally averted” he added.
The controversy escalated after a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit covering 2011 to 2023 found that Rs 813 crore meant for HIMSR and its attached hospital HAH Centenary Hospital was “siphoned off to Hamdard Education Society in brazen violation of UGC regulations.
“The audit described the transactions as gross violations of UGC Regulations through a dubious diversion of funds and called it “a misuse of institutional resources detrimental to students and faculty alike.”
Jamia Hamdard has moved Delhi High Court alleging misuse of its official website and admission credentials by third parties.
In a July 21 order by the Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice of Delhi High Court recorded the statement of the Additional Solicitor General of India, ministry of health “on account of ongoing legal complications in Jamia Hamdard University-Appellant and Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (HIMSR), the competent authority has decided not to include any seat from the college onto the seat matrix in the Academic Year-2025”.
The court also observed that the email communication from the medical counselling committee (MCC) stated that “no seat in the college is being added to the seat matrix and accordingly no allotment of students shall be made to the college.”
A whistleblower complaint filed on June 24 added to the controversy, accusing HIMSR of violating its essentiality certificate.
The certificate requires reserving a total of 85% of seats for Delhi domicile students, but the institute allegedly bypassed this mandate for years by admitting candidates under all-India and NRI quotas.
Despite receiving the university’s withdrawal notice in early June, NMC waited over a month before seeking clarifications and later transferred the domicile quota complaint to the Delhi Medical Council.
Critics have questioned the delay, with a senior academic remarking, “Weak regulatory oversight has sacrificed hundreds of students and left them scrambling for alternatives. Further diversion of university medical college and hospital funds to third party account will also amounts to money laundering.”
