Kochi: Even as the Supreme Court set to consider the legality of the ordinance the government promulgated to regularise the admission 118 students of Kannur Medical College and 25 students of Karuna Medical College for the academic year 2016-17 on Monday, the Kerala University of Health Sciences (KUHS) has redflagged the government against pressuring it into registering the students, saying the move might invite action by the Medical Council of India, including derecognition of the university.
KUHS grants degrees to all the courses in the medical and paramedical streams, and its derecognition could throw the entire medical education in the state into a turmoil.
In a letter to the health department last week, the university has pointed out that the MCI, which functions under a central Act, has the power to act on its own, including that to derecognise the university should it find that it violated rules.
A government order on February 14 based on an ordinance had directed the KUHS to regularise the admission of the students, cancelled by the Admission Supervisory Committee last year. The High Court and Supreme Court had upheld the decision.
The university has written to the MCI seeking its permission to recognise the students, Dr M.K.C. Nair, university vice-chancellor, told DC. “It could grant us permission to resister the students on humanitarian considerations,” he said. “It could also refuse permission and even act against the university. So we shall proceed with the registration only after we get MCI’s permission.” MCI conducts periodic inspection of the university, which is relatively a young one, Dr Nair said.
“We would tread only cautiously and within the limits of the law.” The MCI has completed the process of registration of the students for the academic year 2016-17 in November 2016 and it is for the regulatory body to decide whether to reopen the process for the students of the two medical colleges or not, he said.
Though the colleges clam that the students have attended classes last year, the university has refused to register them till now and has not allowed to write the examinations.
The Supreme Court, which heard a petition by the MCI against the ordinance on Wednesday, reprimanded the government for taking the legislative route to regularise admissions which the court had had found unsustainable.
