Admission register ‘fabrication’: College ordered to pay Rs 10L each to 10 students

The Kalaburagi bench of the High Court of Karnataka has ordered a nursing college to pay Rs 10 lakh each to 10 students for fabricating the register of admission.

Justice Suraj Govindaraj also directed the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) to initiate action against the college, including filing a criminal complaint against it.

Mother Mary College of Nursing, Kalaburagi, and 10 students of BSc (Nursing) filed a petition seeking directions to the Medical Education Department to enable the web portal to allow uploading details of the students and issue the registration numbers. They also sought that students be allowed to take the exam for first-year BSc. The college admitted these students for the first-year BSc (Nursing) in the academic year 2021-22.

It contended that the applications and details of the students could not be uploaded to the website only because of technical glitches.

On the other hand, the RGUHS contended that several extrapolations were found in the register of admission, such as the names of the students were inserted in the register by pasting a paper on the existing names and the names of some other students added even after the admissions were completed.

After going through the material, the court observed that a mere inspection of the register gives rise to “a very shocking and sad state of affairs of the college”. The court said that material leads to a conclusion that the college had fabricated the register of admission.

“The last date for uploading the details was April 7, 2022, and the first request made by petitioner No.1 (college) was on January 10, 2023, after a gap of more than 8 months which also indicates that the students were not admitted before April 7, 2022. The manner in which the petitioner No.1 (college) has indulged in the aforesaid activities is shocking, to say the least,” the court said.

The college is playing with the lives of the students and their parents. The acts of the college led to a situation where on account of the refusal by RGUHS, the students would not be able to take up examinations for this year, the court noted.

“This court cannot also direct respondent no 1 University (RGUHS) by issuance of mandamus to accept the fraud which has been committed by petitioner no.1 college. As such, I am of the considered opinion that the losses which have been caused to the students would also have to be made good by the petitioner no.1 college in monetary terms, though the same may not offer adequate succour to the said students. The action on the part of petitioner no 1-college would also require investigation by the appropriate authority including the police authorities to determine the fraud played and to take necessary action including criminal action, if necessary, apart from other administrative action that the University would be permitted to take against the petitioner no 1-college,” Justice Govindaraj said.