Hyderabad: There is uncertainty in the state over when and whether MBBS admissions under management quota in private medical colleges will begin this year. The admission process has hit a legal hurdle with a two-judge bench of Justice V Eswaraiah and Justice N Ravi Shankar giving conflicting verdicts on a batch of cases in which private medical colleges were accused of not following the merit criteria while filling management seats. The issue has been referred to the acting Chief Justice, who is likely to refer it to an appropriate bench on Monday for adjudication.
The petitioners had relied upon the judgement of a division bench in 2007 which had issued guidelines for filling management quota seats. The guidelines included issuing and receiving applications online, transparency in giving admissions on merit and so on. But on Friday, Justice Eswaraiah felt that though the norms were made for minority institutions, the government ought to have issued a GO incorporating these guidelines for nonminority private unaided medical colleges as well. He said that the bench wanted the guidelines to be followed this year.
But when it was brought to the notice of the court that the software to link all the 20 odd colleges online for filing of applications may not ready for this academic session, the judge, taking note of the fact that the Supreme Court had given them a time schedule, said the admission process cannot be stopped now and the rejected the petitions seeking stay.
But Justice Ravi Shankar, in his order, stayed the admissions to the management quota. He said that the management seats in unaided non-minority colleges are being done as per the marks obtained in the Intermediate course. He wondered how this is permissible when the proviso to Section 3 of the AP Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Prohibition of Capitation Fee) Act, 1983 declares that all seats shall be filled based on EAMCET ranking alone The judge remarked: “It is true that the private managements have their own difficulties and there is no subsidy from the government. Yet the admissions being made to ‘C’ category seats in these colleges is in violation of proviso to Section 3 of the Act."
The judge declared that the court cannot close its eyes when something contrary to law is noticed. “I am of the opinion that admission into ‘C’ category seats be kept in abeyance and all further steps be stayed,” he said. He made it clear that admissions into management quota seats in minority medical colleges, known as ‘B’ category, are not interfered as the Act provides for making admissions based upon marks obtained in Intermediate exams.
After these two differing judgments were delivered, the bench directed the registry to place all the papers before acting Chief Justice PC Ghose who will take a decision on posting the case before another bench. It may be recalled that interim orders were already passed by Justice CV Nagarjuna Reddy directing the NTR Health University not to approve admissions made into management quota seats until it is satisfied that the guidelines issued by a bench in 2007 are fully complied with.
Comments
0 comment