Court stays order mandating colleges to give up NRI seats

 Court stays order mandating colleges to give up NRI seats

 MEDICAL EDUCATION TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

Bengaluru : The high court on Monday passed a conditional interim order directing private medical colleges to deposit within eight weeks the difference between the fees fixed by the govt and the amount actually collected by them from 2018 batch students selected under NRI/ management quota.

 “This direction is without prejudice to the rights of the appellants and to balance the equities between the parties,” a division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind said in its order after hearing the writ appeals filed by Vydehi Institute of Medical Sciences and others.

 Subject to compliance with the interim order, the direction issued by the state govt for surrendering seats is stayed. The appellants had challenged the April 25 order of a single bench based on which the directorate of medical education had asked them to hand over to govt quota the NRI quota seats equivalent to the number of seats they had allegedly blocked and to which they had admitted NRI/management students in 2018. 

A total of 212 seats were identified in 17 medical colleges for surrendering to the govt quota and to be included in the seat matrix. In the order passed by the single bench, a direction was issued to rectify the violations and to ensure the integrity of the admission system. “The approval of the admission of respondent students will be subject to petitioner-medical colleges surrendering and transferring seats from management/NRI quota to the state govt merit quota for the upcoming academic year. This transfer should be completed in compliance with guidelines set forth by the KEA. The colleges shall give an undertaking that they will ensure transparency and fairness and that all admissions will be strictly based on merit and the colleges will never indulge in attempting to block or manipulate seats,” the single bench had observed. 

Stern warning to med institutions 

The colleges were cautioned to strictly adhere to the regulations and directives issued by National Medical Commission and KEA in future admissions to avoid any recurrence of such violations. Failure to comply with the directives shall attract stringent directives, including further reduction in seats and other punitive actions, the single bench warned while imposing hefty costs on the colleges for having manipulated the admission process by blocking seats.