The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Quota: PG students challenge decision of COMED-K

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 08, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Quota: PG students challenge decision of COMED-K

Staff Reporter

High courtround-up

BANGALORE: A single judge of the Karnataka High Court on Tuesday referred to a Division Bench a petition by three postgraduate dental students challenging the decision of the Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (COMED-K) to reserve 50 per cent of the seats under the general merit category to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes and to non-resident Indians.

The petitioners, Rahul Srivastava and two others, said they came under the general merit category and after completing the BDS course applied to dental colleges run by COMED-K for admission to PG courses for 2006-07.

They said they had appeared for the PG common entrance test (CET) conducted by COMED-K and they had secured good ranks. The students said they were told that there were 380 PG seats under the general merit category.

They said just before the first round of counselling was held on April 11, 2006, they were told that only 318 seats were available under the general merit category, and of it 50 per cent would be reserved for SCs, ST and OBCs and 20 per cent for NRIs. The students said COMED-K had reserved the seats after the first round of counselling was over and this was impermissible under the law. They said the Karnataka Professional Education Institutes (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fees) Act came into force only after the first round of counselling. Therefore, this Act could not be applied for admissions to the current year.

They urged the court to set aside the reservation.

Justice D.V. Shylendra Kumar observed that the matter was of utmost importance and referred it to a Division Bench.

Direction

The court on Wednesday directed the Registrar of Societies to be present before the court on an appeal challenging a stay issued by him on the conduct of the elections to the Advocates' Association of Bangalore.

The directions were orally issued by a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Cyriac Joseph and Justice N. Kumar.

The Bench also ordered issue of notices to the State Government.

In its appeal, the association, represented by its general secretary Gopal Swamy, stated that the Registrar had no powers to stay the elections. The association had earlier appealed against a single judge order but it had been dismissed.

A public interest litigation (PIL) petition was filed seeking a probe into the enrolment of fake members into the association.

The Registrar who was directed to probe into the matter had stayed the elections.

Commuted

A Division Bench comprising Justice B. Padmaraj and Justice S. Abdul Nazeer on Wednesday commuted to life imprisonment a sentence of death awarded on a person charged with the murder of his two minor sons.

The Bench accepted the contention of counsel for the accused that the crime did not fall under the bracket of the "rarest of rare" category to be given death sentence.

Ningangouda, a resident of Fattepur in Bijapur district, was sentenced to death by a trial court after being found guilty of murdering his two sons.

Ninganagouda's wife, in her statement, had stated that her husband was in the habit of gambling.

When he sought to alienate their land, the family transferred the property in the name of Niganagouda's sons, Sandeep (10) and Kashinath (8).

Ninganagouda threw both his sons into a canal on Narayanapur Left Bank on January 13, 2004 near Talikota in Bijapur district.

Ninganagouda later consumed poison and tried to commie suicide.

He revealed the murder when he was in hospital.

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