SC allows medico to shift college

The Supreme Court accepted the “legitimate right” of a medical student to shift from a private college to a government college, while exempting her from complying with a Kerala government rule which required such transfers to pay Rs.10 lakh in “liquidated damages.”

A Bench of Justice Gopala Gowda and Justice Rohinton Nariman allowed Amitha Saddar, a native of Kollam district, to shift to a government college without paying Rs.10 lakh in damages to the self-financing college she first got admission.

The court acknowledged the arguments of her counsel that she was eligible for admission to a government college owing to her high rank and she should not be made to suffer for her decision to shift.

Mr. Banerjee had submitted that the rule imposing damages was “arbitrary.”

In her petition, Ms. Saddar said she was forced to shell out over Rs.2 lakh as total annual fee, while a government college would only cost her over Rs.20,000 a year.

“The fundamental right of a candidate to get admission to the college of his/her choice cannot be scuttled by the respondent (State) by imposing such onerous conditions contrary to the basic tenets of law,” the petition said.

The rule was part of a note annexed to a notification issued on September 10, 2014, by the exam commissioner's office during the third phase allotment to MBBS.