Hyderabad: The Supreme Court has accepted the guidelines issued by the Medical Council of India in toto with regard to admissions into undergraduate and post-graduate medical courses. This will allow state governments to make admissions directly either through the convener or the director of medical education.
The Supreme Court decision also means that the managements of unaided minority and non-minority medical colleges will not have the right to decide admissions in either the management quota or the NRI quota seats.
Recently, the Medical Council of India issued a circular making admission to medical courses by the concerned state governments through their conveners or the director of medical education of the state, based on Neet rankings for the academic year 2017-18.
Aggrieved by the circular, managements of unaided minority and non minority medical colleges, including city-based Shadan Educat-ional Society, approa-ched the Supreme Court.
The managements of minority colleges contended that the circular takes away their right to admit students through the management quota, and this is interference in their affairs. The circular is also in violation of the directions of the Supreme Court in the PA Inamdar case and the Pai Foundation case, they contended.
While informing the court that in most of the states, including Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, counselling has been going on for the PG medical courses, the petitioners urged to stay the counselling. A three-member bench comprising Justice Dipak Misra, Justice A.M. Khanwilkar and Justice M. Shantana Goudar, while refusing to stay the circular, directed that the state governments carry out the counselling and the authorised representatives of the colleges, who are the petitioners, shall remain present at the time of counselling.
The bench directed that the authorised representatives, who have been directed to remain personally present, may assist the counselling authorities for allocation of students to their colleges from among the minorities on the basis of their merits.
