Kerala - Kochi   

Order on ST seats to be amended

Kochi: The Kerala High Court was on Wednesday informed by the government that it had decided not to implement its order on eligibility norms for filling the vacant seats reserved for Schedule Tribe (ST) candidates in the MBBS and BDS courses in the State.

The government also informed the court of Justice S. Siri Jagan that the government would amend the order. As per the order, in case no candidates with a minimum of 40 per cent marks in the common entrance test were available, the seats would be filled based on the marks obtained by ST candidates in the qualifying examination. Earlier, the unfilled seats would have been added to the Scheduled Caste quota.

The government also told the court that no allocation would be made to the ST seats. The court recorded these submissions and ordered that the case be posted after two weeks.

The government pleader made the submissions when a writ petition filed by Dhanesh C of Kozhikode came up for hearing.

Counsel for the petitioner, K.R. Radhakrishnan Nayar, contended that the order was illegal, as the government did not have the power or jurisdiction to stipulate new eligibility norms. The government was only bound to follow the regulations framed by the Medical Council of India (MCI). The MCI had stipulated that the ST candidates should have obtained 40 per cent marks in the qualifying examination and competitive entrance examination. The petitioner contended that the requirements of minimum qualifying marks could not be lowered or relaxed.

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