The Karnataka High Court on Thursday ordered issue of notice to the State government on a petition filed by the Association of Minority Professional Colleges in Karnataka questioning the government’s action of allotting seats to post-graduate medical courses contrary to the Post-Graduate Medical Education (Amendment) Regulations 2018.
A division bench comprising Justice Aravind Kumar and Justice Krishna S. Dixit, in its interim order, has said that the allotment of seats by the State government through the Karnataka Examinations Authority will be subject to the final outcome of the petition.
The Association, in its petition, has said that State government cannot fill up 75% of total seats as per the consensual agreement signed with the Association as the said agreement ceased following enactment of the regulations by the Medical Council of India with effect from April 5, 2018.
No regulations
Till the amended regulations were notified, there was no statute or regulations by the MCI governing the seat sharing pattern between the private colleges and the State. The private college were compelled by the State to agree for 75-25 seat sharing ratio under the agreement by allowing private medical colleges to fill up 15% seats under the NRI quota and another 10% seats on higher fee structure category.
With the notification of regulation on seat sharing by the MCI providing 50-50 seat sharing ratio between the State government and the college managements based on the NEET ranking, the State government should have allotted candidates only for 50% of the seats during the first round of counselling held from April 18, the Association claimed. Pointing out that the government did not respond to the plea of the Association to adhere to the new regulations, it has been pointed in the petition that the second round of counselling has been deferred for now after the Association sent a communication to the authorities.
