Chennai: A petition has been filed in Madras high court seeking a direction to the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) attached to the Union ministry of health and family welfare and the Centralised Admission Committee (Centac), Puducherry, to take penal action against 10 medical colleges in Puducherry for admitting students in first year MBBS course without counselling.
In the PIL G. Panchapakesan said that after several representations to the Medical Council of India (MCI), it had on September 7, 2017, issued showcause notices to students, who had secured admissions in the first year course in various medical colleges and deemed to be Universities in Puducherry during 2016-17. They had not appeared in the common counselling and were admitted after the cut-off date of September 30, 2017, fixed by MCI and the Supreme Court.
The students had approached the high court, which had granted an interim stay on the operation of the notices. The official did not take any step to expedite the pending cases. The proceedings issued by MCI by invoking Section 7(6)(A) of the MCI Regulations had been stayed, a fresh cause of action has arisen for the Council to invoke section 7(6)(B) of the regulations, which enabled it to discharge the students from the course of study or to de-recognise their medical qualification.
Advocate M Ravi, counsel for the petitioner said the institutions, which had admitted students after the last date specified, shall also be liable to face penal action as prescribed by MCI, including surrender of the seats equivalent to the extent of such admission made from its sanctioned intake capacity for the succeeding academic year. The 10 colleges included Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Vinayaka Mission, Lakshmi Narayana, PIMS, Manakula Vinayagar, and Venkateshwara.
When the matter came up for hearing before a division bench of Justices T.S. Sivagnanam and Bhavani Subbaroyan, the bench ordered notice to the authorities concerned and adjourned the matter for further hearing after three weeks.
