No sympathy with students who get admissions in MBBS course through backdoor entry: Supreme Court

Read Judgement: Abdul Ahad & Ors. vs. Union of India & Ors. 

LE Staff

New Delhi, August 23, 2021: The Supreme Court has ruled that the admissions in MBBS course conducted by Glocal Medical College, a deemed university in Saharanpur district of Uttar Pradesh, through private counselling are illegal and contrary to the notification issued by the state government. 

The three-Judge Bench of Justice L. Nageswara Rao, Justice B.R. Gavai, and Justice Krishna Murari observed that the Notification issued by the State of UP on the basis of the law laid down by the Apex Court clearly provided that the admissions were to be done only through the centralized admission process (CAP), which was not complied with by the Glocal Medical College. 

“… no sympathies can be shown to such students who have entered through backdoor,” the bench said. The observations came pursuant to a challenge made against the Notification issued by the State of UP for conducting CAP as well as the discharge order by the Medical Council of India (MCI). 

As per the background of the case, the review petitioners were admitted in 1st year Professional MBBS course in Glocal Medical College. In the meanwhile, the State of UP issued a direction for conducting centralized counselling for admission to MBBS/BDS course in all colleges/universities in the State of Uttar Pradesh. The State also directed that 50% of the sanctioned intake of private institutions shall be reserved for domiciled students. 

This notification was challenged before the Allahabad High Court, without any relief. In the meantime, the MCI issued a discharge letter to the Glocal Medical College and directed to discharge 67 students admitted by it, whose names did not figure in the list supplied by the Director General of Medical Education & Training (DGME). The said order of MCI came to be challenged by Glocal Medical College in the Top Court, which was disposed of by directing that the students who were admitted shall be permitted to continue their studies. 

It was therefore claimed by the review petitioners that even though they cleared MBBS examination for 1^st year, the Glocal Medical College did not conduct the examination for the 2nd year MBBS. Later on, noticing the discharge order issued by the MCI, the review petitioners challenged the same before the High Court, which disposed of the said petition with liberty to approach the Apex Court. Since the SLP also came to be dismissed, the petitioners approached the SC by way of review. 

The Top Court found that the Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court by way of elaborate judgment found no fault with the Notification issued by the State of Uttar Pradesh and elaborated that Minority institutions shall be allowed to admit the students of their community based on Centralized Counselling held by the State on the basis of NEET 2016, to the extent permissible, but without deviating from the merit of such students as reflected in the NEET list 2016, so as to sub-serve their minority status under Article 30(1) of the Constitution of India.

The Apex Court noted that it could thus clearly be seen that though minority institutions were allowed to admit the students of their community based on Centralized Counselling held by the State on the basis of NEET 2016, the same was to be done without deviating from the merit of the said students. 

“MCI vide order dated 27.1.2017 had discharged the said students, who were not admitted through centralized admission process. It is pertinent to note that 25 students admitted in the same college, who were admitted through the centralized admission process, were very much absorbed by the DGME in other colleges. As such, the contention of the review petitioners that they came to know about the discharge order dated 27.1.2017 issued by MCI only when they had filed a petition in the High Court in 2019 does not stand to reason,” observed the Apex Court. 

While reiterating that no sympathies can be shown to such students who have entered through the backdoor, the Top Court found it difficult to appreciate as to how the results of the students were declared for the 1st year MBBS examination, how they were admitted in the 2nd year MBBS course and how they cleared the 2nd year MBBS examination, despite the fact that MCI had discharged the students vide order dated Jan 27, 2017.

Accordingly, the Apex Court dismissed the Review Petition.