HC asks deemed varsities to admit MBBS seat aspirants

Hearing a petition filed by 25  students who were denied admission, a High Court division bench comprising Chief Justice P D Dinakaran and Justice V G Sabhahit directed the NITTE Institute of Education and Yenepoya Institute of medical Education to admit the students until alternative arrangements were made.

During the hearing, the Karnataka Examinations Authority submitted that there were some unfilled all-India quota seats, which would be returned to the State. The authority said there could possibly be 16 seats that have remained unfilled in various other medical colleges across the State.

The court wanted the counselling, to be conducted for those unfilled 16 seats, to be open only for those students who have been denied admission by the deemed universities. After filling the returned seats, the remaining students should be allowed to continue in the deemed universities, where they have been allotted seats.
The bench said that until then the universities should permit the students to attend class.

Counsels for the universities contended that the fees fixed by the committee appointed by the Supreme Court for deemed varsities and their fees structure were higher than the government fees. They said that  students coming through CET counselling should pay the same fees as fixed by the committee.

However, the bench said that the students should be allowed to pay the government fixed fees as they will be shifted to alternative colleges. The bench said that the matter related to the higher fees claimed by the varsities will be subjected to the final hearing.  
  
Reacting to the High Court ruling, Dr Saeed Aqueel Ahmed, Vice-Chancellor, Yenepoya University, said: “We are going to honour the judgment and it is fair. We never refused to admit them in the first place.”

NITTE University Director, Vishal Hegde said: “I have not seen the copy of the judgment. However, the 25 students who have already been admitted will not be disturbed.”