BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Tuesday, in an interim order, permitted the St. John's Academy of Medical Sciences, Bangalore, to admit minority students (belonging to Catholic Christian community) from outside Karnataka.

A Division Bench, comprising Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice Manjula Chellur, passed the order on a petition by the institution. The college had questioned the observation of the Justice Venkataraman Committee of Overseeing the Admission to Professional Private Colleges that "the college might lose its minority status if it admitted students, belonging to Catholic Christian community from outside Karnataka, exceeding certain limits".

The committee had made the observation based on the verdict of the Supreme Court in which it was held that "the minority status of educational institutions is to be determined by treating the States as units." The college claimed before the High Court that Catholic Christians have an all-India minority status and that it could not be restricted to Karnataka only. It said that the all India entrance examination is being conducted by it at 13 different centres in the country to select the candidates based on merit. The college said that admission of Catholic Christian students from outside Karnataka, irrespective of their number, did not affect its minority status.

Staying the committee's observation, insofar as it relates to minority status of the college, until further order, the High Court also stayed the notification issued by Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences to conduct an entrance test to fill up postgraduate seats in medicine and dentistry.

The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), which runs St. John's and other institutions, said St. John's was started in 1961 for training healthcare professionals. It said the institution was an all-India unaided non-capitation fee registered minority institution. More than 75 per cent of the students were from the Catholic minority community.

The institution said it was conducting an entrance test on its own. It said on December 21, 2005, the State Government through a notification sought to create an agency to conduct entrance test to all private unaided minority and non-minority medical colleges. On December 22, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) framed an ordinance taking over the conduct of the entrance test for postgraduate medical and dental courses in private colleges.

The entrance examination was scheduled to be conducted on February 19, 2006. The college had questioned the RGUHS ordinance as well as the January 3, 2006 order of the Venkataraman Committee.

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