Kochi: A student and her father have approached the High Court with a prayer to declare unconstitutional the Kerala Professional Colleges (Regularisation of Admissions) Ordinance 2017, which seeks to regularise self-financing medical college admissions, cancelled last year by the Admission Supervisory Committee (ASC). The ordinance was promulgated last month. The High Court and the Supreme Court had upheld the decision of the ASC, then headed by Justice J.M. James, which nullified admissions after finding that the colleges had violated guidelines issued by the apex court and the ASC. Admissions include those made to 150 seats in Kannur Medical College and to 30 seats in Karuna Medical College, Palakkad.
In their petition, Minna Mariya Jose and her father K.J. Jose submitted that provisions in the ordinance violated the rules framed by the ASC, the High Court and the Supreme Court regulating admissions to MBBS course in self-financing medical colleges. Section 2 of the ordinance which provides for the regularisation of admissions by a “competent authority” in medical colleges is aimed at “getting over the decisions of the ASC which had been upheld by the High Court and the Supreme Court,” the petition pointed out. The setting up of a “competent authority” to regularise admissions usurped the role of the ASC, formed on the basis of the orders of the Supreme Court, the petitioners said.
A division bench, which heard the petition, has ordered notice to the state government, ASC and the two medical colleges. The petitioners alleged that the ordinance was aimed at regularising the "illegal admissions granted to students in self-financing medical colleges," and was only a "colourable exercise of power by the state to get over dictums laid down by the High Court and the Supreme Court". It is for "assisting managements of various self financing colleges who have influence over the state government," they alleged. The High Court had ordered the ASC to weed out applications received by means other than online, but the colleges made no provision to receive applications online, and instead conducted admissions on applications received otherwise, the petitioners pointed out.
These were challenged in the Supreme Court by the colleges. The Supreme Court, while dismissing the special leave petition of the colleges, had ordered that eligible students, who failed to get admissions, should be admitted to the MBBS course in the college, reserving seats during the academic year 2017-18. The ordinance has thrown to air directions of the courts and watered down guidelines for "assisting and aiding the management of the self-financing colleges." It is "absolutely unconstitutional, illegal and violates all principles of natural justice," the petitioners told the court. The second petitioner has joined the BDS course but continues to be an aspirant for the MBBS course, the petition said, recalling that the Supreme Court, which had rejected the SLPs, had ordered the colleges to consider eligible candidates, denied admissions last year.
