The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : PGCET: students' plea rejected

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 28, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

PGCET: students' plea rejected

Staff Reporter

High courtround-up

BANGALORE: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday refused to stay a single judge order rejecting petitions by several postgraduate medical students whose rankings were annulled by the State Government following reports of alleged malpractices in the Postgraduate Common Entrance Test (PGCET) 2006.

A single judge, in an interim order on April 25, rejected the contention of the postgraduate students and said they were not entitled to any interim order of relief seeking to restrain the State Government from taking any further action pursuant to the show-cause notice of April 16, 2006. Some of the petitioners had assailed the Government Order of March 13 and the constitution of the committee.

The petitioners, all postgraduate students who had appeared for the PGCET 2006, said the constitution of the committee was without jurisdiction, as the Government had no power under the Karnataka Conduct of Entrance Test for Admission to Postgraduate Medical and Dental seats in Government Colleges Act.

They said the Government should communicate the inspection report of any committee to the university Syndicate. This was not done. Moreover, the committee had come up with a report in which it had indicted 21 students of malpractice. However, the Government had decided to proceed against 16 students.

They said if the interim prayers were not granted, they would suffer as the counselling for postgraduate seats was being held in the last week of April.

The single judge had rejected the plea for interim prayer. He said: "The malpractice had taken place at the postgraduate level, on completion of which doctors will become specialists and will deal with life and death of human beings". He said if such things were allowed to persist, the faith and confidence of the public in the system and doctors would be lost and capable students would lose their merit.

Appeal

Several students appealed against the single judge order. When the matter came up on Thursday before a vacation Division Bench, it had to be referred to a Special Bench. They sought an interim stay of the single judge order. A Special Bench comprising Justice N.S. Veerabhadraiah and Justice N. Kumar was constituted and the matter was referred to it in the afternoon.

The appellants contended that they had not been given an opportunity to reply to the showcause notice and that it was the Syndicate of RGUHS that should have initiated action and not the State Government. They said the single judge had failed to appreciate these facts. The Bench refused to grant any interim relief as sought for, and said prima facie it appeared that there were malpractices in the examination. The Bench observed that it could pass orders only after hearing the other parties, the Government and RGUHS.

The Bench adjourned the case till May 2 and ordered issue of notices to the respondents, the State, RGUHS and the inquiry committee.

Interlocutory application

A vacation judge of the Karnataka High Court posted before a Division Bench an interlocutory application (IA) by the State Government seeking to vacate an interim order of stay on the show-cause notices issued to three postgraduate medical students.

The vacation judge in an ex parte order had stayed the show-cause notice to Nitesh R. Desai, Anand Haliyal and Neha Bansal, by the State Government.

The State Government had issued notices to several students after a committee appointed by it had found malpractices during the conduct of the PGCET 2006. While one judge had upheld the State action on Tuesday, another judge had on the same day granted an interim stay to three students on a similar matter.

In its IA, the State said the three students were challenging the show-cause notice of April 6, 2004 wherein it had asked why action should not be taken against them. It said a detailed statement of objections filed in another case had been taken note of and the judge had rejected the prayer of the students.

It said the inquiry committee had found that 16 students were involved in the malpractices in the PGCET and this was done with the connivance of some of the officials of RGUHS, which conducted the examination.

The vacation judge, however, posted the matter before the Division Bench.

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