Posted by Dr. Gopal Unnikrishna Kurup
Entrance Thrown Widely Open.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday 18 July 2013 quashed the validity of the common entrance exam both for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses in government and private institutions. .In a majority judgment, Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Vikramajit Sen held that it was beyond the powers of the Medical Council of India(MCI) to make such an arrangement of common entrance test both for government and private institutions. In the dissenting judgment, however, Justice Anil R Dave dismissed the petitions by private medical and dental colleges challenging the MCI notification providing for common NEET for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses.
The medical education standoff started with MCI's decision in July last to conduct the first-ever common entrance examination, the NEET, for admission to MBBS and post-graduate courses in medicine as well as dental courses.MCI proposed the institution of NEET with the ostensible purpose of preventing shortcomings and lacunae for corruption, capitation extortion in crores of rupees and and widespread bribery now prevalent in the medical admission field. The proposal was, however, opposed by the private medical and dental colleges and also states like Andhra Pradesh,and Tamil Nadu who moved the apex court. The Supreme Court then had ordered all the cases filed in this respect in other courts to be transferred to is three-bench court presided by the Chief Justice.
In an interim order, the SC had directed the MCI and all private colleges to start their admission process, as per the old guidelines where the MCI, state governments and private colleges conduct their separate exams.
A large section of aspiring medicos did back NEET, arguing that NEET will make the admission process simpler and more transparent. It was amusing to see that on the same day in the immediate wake of above Judgement, another verdict by another bench of the Supreme Court came annulling the entrance examination conducted by the Kerala Private Medical Management Association, on grounds of lack of transparency and manipulation, unduly enabling candidates of management's choice. Earlier, the contrived entrance exam conducted by the management was cancelled by the Supervisory Committee headed by retired High Court Justice J.M James, finding that the exam was a farce.
The court underlined the finding that the management had gone to the extent of even secretly supplying the students who had duly paid up the money demanded by the management, with the question papers of the exam and conducting covert private coaching classes on the answers. On the contention of the appellant management that there are no complainants, the court caustically commented: " it was like looking for a black cat in a dark room".
It is a mute but eloquent commentary on the telescopic way our judiciary functions with disparate cylinder visions of even burning issues.
The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday 18 July 2013 quashed the validity of the common entrance exam both for undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses in government and private institutions. .In a majority judgment, Chief Justice Altamas Kabir and Justice Vikramajit Sen held that it was beyond the powers of the Medical Council of India(MCI) to make such an arrangement of common entrance test both for government and private institutions. In the dissenting judgment, however, Justice Anil R Dave dismissed the petitions by private medical and dental colleges challenging the MCI notification providing for common NEET for both undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses.
The medical education standoff started with MCI's decision in July last to conduct the first-ever common entrance examination, the NEET, for admission to MBBS and post-graduate courses in medicine as well as dental courses.MCI proposed the institution of NEET with the ostensible purpose of preventing shortcomings and lacunae for corruption, capitation extortion in crores of rupees and and widespread bribery now prevalent in the medical admission field. The proposal was, however, opposed by the private medical and dental colleges and also states like Andhra Pradesh,and Tamil Nadu who moved the apex court. The Supreme Court then had ordered all the cases filed in this respect in other courts to be transferred to is three-bench court presided by the Chief Justice.
In an interim order, the SC had directed the MCI and all private colleges to start their admission process, as per the old guidelines where the MCI, state governments and private colleges conduct their separate exams.
A large section of aspiring medicos did back NEET, arguing that NEET will make the admission process simpler and more transparent. It was amusing to see that on the same day in the immediate wake of above Judgement, another verdict by another bench of the Supreme Court came annulling the entrance examination conducted by the Kerala Private Medical Management Association, on grounds of lack of transparency and manipulation, unduly enabling candidates of management's choice. Earlier, the contrived entrance exam conducted by the management was cancelled by the Supervisory Committee headed by retired High Court Justice J.M James, finding that the exam was a farce.
The court underlined the finding that the management had gone to the extent of even secretly supplying the students who had duly paid up the money demanded by the management, with the question papers of the exam and conducting covert private coaching classes on the answers. On the contention of the appellant management that there are no complainants, the court caustically commented: " it was like looking for a black cat in a dark room".
It is a mute but eloquent commentary on the telescopic way our judiciary functions with disparate cylinder visions of even burning issues.
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