CHENNAI: A writ petition, stating that the admission process to the Christian Medical College (CMC) at Vellore was not conducted in a fair and transparent manner, has been filed in the Madras High Court.

Justice Prabha Sridevan admitted the petition filed by P. Arunkumar of Nagercoil and ordered notices to the Education Department, Tamil Nadu, Dr. MGR Medical University and the CMC. The matter was then adjourned to September 25.

`No rank list'

According to the petitioner, the CMC does not publish the mark list and rank list of candidates selected after an entrance examination and interview. No information relating to inter se ranking of candidates called for the interview is available. The college is entitled to fill 50 out of the 60 sanctioned seats with Christian minority students.

The petitioner said though the prospectus stated that students numbering twice the available seats would be called for interview, the CMC had invited 242 candidates for the 60 seats. He alleged that the college selected several candidates who had secured lower grade in the entrance examination. Many were awarded more marks in the "so-called interview."

`Rules violated'

Pointing out that only three candidates from Tamil Nadu had been admitted this year, Mr. Arunkumar said five out of the 11 seats earmarked were given to wards of CMC employees. Filling up seats with SC Christians was a violation of the rules. Christians belonging to the North-East were not minorities and ought not to have been admitted. Only seven candidates, including the petitioner, had qualified from Tamil Nadu.

"The CMC ought to have admitted all the seven qualified candidates and filled the remaining seats with qualified students from other States," the petition said.

He sought a direction to the authorities to admit him for the MBBS course in his capacity as a minority candidate from Tamil Nadu.

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