A college cannot keep a student’s original certificates as security for unpaid fees, the Telangana High Court has ruled. On 5 November, Justice Juvvadi Sridevi ordered a medical college to return an MBBS graduate’s originals within one week.
What happened
The petitioner had deposited his originals at admission: his Class 10 and Intermediate marks memos, NEET rank card and hall ticket, and transfer and migration certificates. He completed MBBS and his internship, and registered with the Telangana Medical Council. He had paid Rs 47.5 lakh for the first four years but could not pay the final-year fee of Rs 11.75 lakh, so the college kept his certificates.
He told the court that this had stalled his permanent registration and job search for a year. It now also threatened his NEET PG 2026 counselling, where originals must be shown at reporting. The college did not appear in court.
What the court said
The court said original certificates are the student’s own property. With no legal authority to keep them, a college cannot hold them back. If it believes money is owed, it must recover the dues through proper legal proceedings, not by holding the certificates. The court called such retention wholly unlawful.
If your college is holding your certificates
- Ask in writing. Write to the principal asking for your originals, give the reason and any deadline (such as counselling or a job joining date), and keep a copy.
- Keep records. Keep fee receipts and your admission documents, plus any message that links the return of certificates to payment.
- Escalate. Go to the university the college is affiliated to and your state’s fee or medical education authority. If that fails, a High Court petition is an option, as this case shows.
- The fees do not disappear. The ruling stops the college from using your certificates as leverage. It does not cancel any dues the college can lawfully claim.
This is a single-judge order of the Telangana High Court. It binds the parties in this case, though courts elsewhere have taken similar views.
Source: Telangana High Court order in Writ Petition No. 35481 of 2026, Kolakatla Shravan Kumar v. State of Telangana and others, dated 5 November 2026.
