State decision on fee structure valid: High Court

The State government’s decision to collect fee from the students of the Ernakulam Medical College in accordance with the fee structure during their admission process is valid, said the High Court of Kerala.

Dismissing five appeals filed by a few students of the college, the Bench consisting of Acting Chief Justice Ashok Bhushan and Justice A.M. Sheffique held that the decision of the government was with valid reasons.

The court also upheld the decision of the Single Judge of the High Court, who had earlier rejected the petition of the students.

The petitioners had obtained admission for the respective courses at the Cooperative Medical College run by the Cooperative Academy for Professional Education.

Later, the State government took over the college, including its assets and liabilities, and converted it into Ernakulam Medical College.

The issue in the case was whether after the takeover of the Cooperative Medical College by the government and making it Government Medical College with effect from 2014-15, the students, who were admitted to the college prior to 2014-2015, were eligible to pay fee as determined at the time of the admission or whether they could be permitted to pay the fee as fixed for the government medical colleges, the court said.

A committee appointed by the government had recommended that the existing students shall be asked to pay fee according to the fee structure under which they were admitted and it was accepted by the government, the order pointed out.