New Delhi, Feb 24 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday imposed a Rs 5 crore fine on a private medical college in Unnao for violating Medical Council of India regulations in granting admission to students.
A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and S Ravindra Bhat said: “The Petitioner-College is directed to deposit an amount of Rupees Five Crore in the Registry of this Court within a period of 8 weeks from today. The Petitioners are directed not to recover the amount from the students in any manner whatsoever.”
The top court noted that the Saraswati Medical College admitted 132 students without seeking a nod from Director General Medical Education (DGME), Uttar Pradesh.
The bench noted that college permitted the students to continue their studies in spite of the direction by the MCI to discharge the students not being stayed. “Intentional violation of the Regulations by the Petitioner-College while granting admission to 132 students in the first year MBBS course for the academic year 2017-2018 cannot be condoned”, noted the bench.
However, the court observed the students have completed the second year MBBS course, and cancelling their admissions at this stage would not serve any useful purpose. “The students who joined the college knowing fully well that their admissions are contrary to the Regulations are directed to do community service for a period of two years after completing their MBBS course”, said the top court.
The National Medical Commission would decide the details and workout the modalities of the community service to be rendered by these students. The bench noted being aware of the fact that admissions cannot be made from students not allotted by MCI, the College admitted 132 students on its own.
The top court directed National Medical Commission (NMC) to constitute a Trust, which would include the Accountant General of Uttar Pradesh, an eminent educationist and a representative of Uttar Pradesh as Members of the Trust.
“The Trust constituted to manage Rs 5 crore to be deposited by the Petitioner-College shall extend financial assistance to needy students seeking admission to medical colleges in the State of Uttar Pradesh,” the bench said.
The verdict came on a plea filed by Saraswati Educational Charitable Trust against the notice of September 29, 2017, issued by MCI directing Saraswati Medical College to discharge 132 out of 150 students.
These students were admitted in the first year MBBS course for the academic year 2017-2018. The second petition was filed by 71 students who have been admitted in first year MBBS course for the 2017-2018 to permit them to continue with their studies and to direct the Registrar, Uttar Pradesh Medical Council to declare their results of the first year MBBS course.
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