The Hindu : New Delhi News : Supreme Court notice on invalidated entrance test

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Supreme Court notice on invalidated entrance test

J. Venkatesan

High Court restrained admission based on managements’ test

Supreme Court admits special leave petition from medical managements association
Case posted for hearing on August 13

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Kerala government and the student concerned on a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Kerala Private Medical College Managements Association against an High Court order restraining it from making admission on the basis of an entrance test conducted by it.

A three-judge Bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice P. Sathasivam and Justice J.M. Panchal, after hearing senior counsel Arun Jaitley for the association, P.V. Dinesh for the State and counsel for the student (petitioner before the Kerala High Court) posted the matter for further hearing on August 13.

High Court order

Acting on a writ petition, the High Court had invalidated the entrance test conducted by the association on the ground that the time schedule fixed by the apex court in the Mridhul Dhar case was not followed. The High Court had directed the association to admit students on the basis of a common entrance test conducted by the Commissioner of Entrance of Examinations (CEE).

When Mr. Jaitley submitted that the High Court which had given the operative portion of the judgment pronounced its judgment on Tuesday morning, the Bench asked the counsel to place a copy of the judgment in the next date of hearing.

The association, with six medical colleges as members, in its SLP said that it had entered into an agreement with the government to provide 50 per cent of the seats to be filled from the rank list of the CEE and collect only Rs.45,000 as fee for these students as against Rs.2.60 lakh for all seats permitted by the Admission Supervisory Committee (ASC).

It said the managements’ entrance test was conducted for 35 per cent seats under the management quota and it was approved by the ASC. The results had been published and presented to the ASC for its approval. The future of more than 200 students was at stake if the impugned order was not stayed and admission was not allowed on the basis of the test conducted by the association.

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