The Telangana High Court has held that educational institutions cannot withhold students' original academic certificates to recover outstanding tuition fees. Justice Juvvadi Sridevi passed the order while allowing a writ petition filed by Kolakatla Shravan Kumar, an MBBS doctor who alleged that his former medical college had retained his educational documents over unpaid final-year fees.
The Court clarified that an institution claiming unpaid dues must pursue recovery through appropriate legal proceedings rather than retaining a student's personal academic documents.
Background
Shravan Kumar had submitted his original academic documents when he secured admission to the MBBS course at Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences. These included his SSC and Intermediate marks memos, NEET rank card, transfer certificate and migration certificate.
After completing his MBBS course and compulsory one-year rotating internship, he received his provisional certificate and obtained registration with the Telangana Medical Council.
According to his petition, he had paid ₹47.50 lakh towards tuition and other fees for the first four years. However, due to financial difficulties, he could not clear the remaining ₹11.75 lakh for the final year.
He alleged that the college consequently withheld his original certificates and that his application for the original degree certificate remained pending at the principal's approval stage.
The petitioner also submitted that the withheld documents were affecting his professional registration, employment opportunities and participation in NEET PG 2026 counselling.
After examining the records, Justice Juvvadi Sridevi noted that the original certificates were in the custody of the third respondent college and constituted the petitioner's personal and academic credentials.
The Court emphasised that the college had no legal authority to retain these documents merely because an amount remained unpaid.
The Court observed:
"Even assuming that the college has any monetary claim against the petitioner, the proper remedy, if any, available is to pursue appropriate proceedings in accordance with law for recovery of its dues."
Rejecting the practice of retaining certificates as security, the Court further stated:
"However, the college cannot retain the petitioner's original certificates as security for recovery of any amount claimed by it and such retention is wholly unlawful and cannot be justified on the ground of any outstanding liability."
The Court also concluded that the petitioner was entitled to the immediate return of his original certificates.
Allowing the writ petition, the Telangana High Court directed Malla Reddy Institute of Medical Sciences and Malla Reddy Vishwavidyapeeth to return the petitioner's original academic certificates within one week from the date of receiving a copy of the order.
The Court made no order as to costs and directed that any pending miscellaneous applications would stand closed.
