Medical colleges under the Karnataka Religious and Linguistic Minority Professional Colleges’ Association (KRLMPCA) have deferred their counselling for admission to postgraduate medical courses, indefinitely. The counselling was scheduled to commence on April 20.

The admissions to the minority medical colleges have been embroiled in a legal tangle. The association has six medical colleges under its umbrella and the State government has stripped five colleges of their minority status.

However, the High Court stayed the government’s action. Educational institutions have to admit at least 65 per cent of students of religious or linguistic minority groups to retain their minority tag. Since the five colleges “failed” to maintain this ratio, they were stripped of the tag. With this, neither do they come under KRLMPCA nor are they members of the COMED-K.

The association is yet to assess the situation arising out of the turn of events. Shafi Ahmed, the secretary of the association told Deccan Herald that the medical colleges have deferred counselling scheduled for April 20.

On the other hand, some students who have secured top ranks in the postgraduate entrance test have dragged the minority colleges into court alleging that they were not admitting students under the 20 pc government quota as provided for in the consensual agreement. The students have accused these colleges of giving priority to filling management quota seats.