The Madras High Court has declined to quash an order of JIPMER, Puducherry, in April last year suspending two MBBS students for alleged impersonation in the entrance examination in June 2009.
Dismissing the petitions by S. Dhivagar and Sourav Kumar, Justice S. Manikumar said the allegation of mala fide on the part of the Dean, JIPMER, was liable to be rejected.
The petitioners had sought a consequent direction to the institute to permit them to continue their studies pending disposal of the criminal case.
Expert opinion
Mr. Justice Manikumar said fingerprint and document experts had categorically opined that the persons who had attended counselling for the first-year MBBS course were not the ones who had written the entrance examination. It was evident that there was incriminating material against the petitioners for having committed impersonation and obtained, through dishonest means, admission for the course.
No surmises
The college's decision to suspend the petitioners was not based on surmises and conjectures. Once the educational authorities had taken a decision to place the two under suspension for maintaining academic standards, pending trial/investigation into a serious crime of impersonation, the High Court would not sit in judgment over it.
Considering the petitioners' apprehension that trial may take long and their education would be affected, the Judge directed the D' Nagar police station, Puducherry to secure the other two absconding accused. If that was not possible within a reasonable time, the case should be split and trial against the petitioners should proceed.
The Judge also directed Judicial Magistrate II to take up the trial as expeditiously as possible and conduct it on a day-to-day basis.
