In a relief to unaided private medical colleges, the High Court of Karnataka has quashed the Medical Council of India’s (MCI) circular making Common Entrance Test (CET) mandatory for admission to MBBS courses under non-resident Indian (NRI) quota from the academic year 2015–16.
A Division Bench comprising Justice B.S. Patil and Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar at the court’s Dharwad Bench delivered the verdict in this regard on April 17 while allowing petitions filed by S. Nijalingappa Medical College, Bagalkot, J.N, Medical College, Belagavi, and SDM College of Medical Sciences and Hospital, Dharwad. The colleges had questioned the legality of the circular issued by the MCI in January, besides challenging the insistence to hold CET to fill up NRI quota, which constitutes 15 per cent of the total intake of a college. “The MCI sought to introduce entrance test for NRI category students as per the report of the executive committee, which is apparently contrary to the nature of the power invested with the committee and the procedure prescribed under the IMC Act, 1956,” the Bench said. Also, the circular was contrary to the pronouncements of the Supreme Court, which had recognised rights of unaided private medical colleges to admit NRI students by evolving their own method of assessing merit among applicants pending legislation to be brought by the Centre or the States, the Bench said.
In Karnataka, the court said, the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006, authorises private colleges to fill up 20 per cent of the seats (15 under NRI and 5 management quota respectively) based on the method devised by them as per concessional agreement between college managements and the State.
Circular making CET mandatory for MBBS students under NRI quota quashed
