HC seeks MCI’s response on amendment of norms

Earlier, notifications had called for common counselling

The Madras High Court Bench here on Wednesday sought the response of the Medical Council of India (MCI) to a couple of writ petitions challenging the validity of two notifications issued by it on Friday, stating that henceforth, there shall be common counselling on the basis of merit list of NEET for all admissions to MBBS as well as postgraduate medical courses in all educational institutions in a State or Union Territory.

Justice V. Parthiban ordered that MCI should respond to the two writ petitions, filed by the chairman of a linguistic minority educational institution, by March 22. The MCI’s notifications amending the Regulations on Graduate Medical Education of 1997 as well as Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations of 2000, had stated that the amendments were being introduced with the previous sanction of the Centre and they shall apply even with respect to private minority institutions. Assailing the notifications, challenged by the chairman of Padanilam Welfare Trust that administers self-financed institutions in Kanniyakumari district, senior counsel Isaac Mohanlal contended that they were in violation of the Constitutional right of the minorities to administer educational institutions. “Admission of students being one of the most important facets of right of administration, neither the MCI nor the State can bring in regulations abrogating the right,” he argued.