Chandigarh, Feb. 7 -- The district consumer disputes redressal commission, Chandigarh, has directed Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut, to refund Rs.25.66 lakh out of Rs.28 lakh paid as fees by a city-based MD student who quit the course within a month, alleging ragging. The complainant, Dr Nidish Goel of Sector 23, said that he paid a total consideration of Rs.30 lakh for admission to the MD course through NEET-PG 2021 and deposited Rs.28 lakh as academic fees. He joined the college on May 4, 2022, but alleged that he was subjected to continuous ragging, harassment and exploitation by senior students. According to the complaint, the alleged ragging included humiliating tasks, abusive language, public humiliation and excessive duty hours extending up to 40 hours without rest or food. He claimed that this caused him severe mental trauma, forcing him to resign from the course on June 6, 2022. He further said that he lodged complaints against the seniors with the National Anti-Ragging Cell, however, the university issued an arbitrary report on June 18, 2022,shielding the accused students. The matter, he said, remains pending before the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Medical Council of India (MCI). In its reply, the university denied the allegations, stating that the complainant never reported any instance of misbehaviour to the head of the department, the principal, or any competent authority of the university. It further alleged that Goel had expressed his desire to go abroad and had fabricated the ragging allegations to convince his parents to allow him to leave India after recovering the fees. The UGC, which was also impleaded as a party, said that upon receiving the complaint, the anti-ragging helpline forwarded it to the concerned authorities and followed up daily for the anti-ragging committee (ARC) report. The university later submitted a re-investigation report, after which the UGC attempted to contact the complainant. As no response was received, the case was closed, the UGC said. The MCI, also made a party to the complaint, failed to file its written reply within the stipulated time. Observing that the complainant had attended the course for only one month against fees paid for one year, the commission held that the seat had fallen vacant with effect from June 6, 2022. "Since the complainant attended the course for only one month, we are of the view that the fees for the remaining 11 months are liable to be refunded," the commission observed. On the issue of ragging, the commission said it could not adjudicate the allegations, as such claims require detailed examination and cross-examination of witnesses. It granted liberty to the complainant to pursue the matter before an appropriate court. The commission directed the university to refund Rs.25,66,667 to the complainant and ordered the institution to pay Rs.20,000 as compensation for mental agony and harassment and Rs.10,000 towards litigation costs....