100 MBBS students’ fate uncertain as HC reverses ruling on extra seats at Rajasthan private medical college

NEW DELHI: Around 100 students admitted to MBBS at a private medical college in Rajasthan are facing an uncertain future after the Rajasthan High Court (HC) overturned its earlier decision allowing additional seats at the institute.

Last week, the HC's division bench of justices Rekha Borana and Shree Chandrashekhar, in an interim decision, stayed an October 8 order by the single-judge bench of Justice Dinesh Mehta, permitting the Pacific Medical College in Udaipur to increase its MBBS intake capacity from 150 to 250. However, by then the college had filled all but one of its undergraduate medical seats.

In its judgment, the division bench has allowed the students who have already deposited the fee with the state's counselling board to get a refund and seek admission to the other colleges with vacant seats. However, with the admission process ending on the same day as the judgement, November 5, candidates admitted on the now-withdrawn seats are left in the lurch.

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Meanwhile, students enrolled at another institute, the newly-established JIET Medical College in Jodhpur, also risk losing their MBBS seats. This private medical college, too, got its intake enhanced from 50 to 100 by the same single-judge bench, but is now facing a challenge before the higher bench.

While the state authorities say that the verdict effectively cancels these candidates' enrolment, the college insists that since it had already admitted the students by the time the judgment came on November 5, it can't affect the students.

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MBBS Admissions 2024: Disagreement over verdict

Dr Madan Mohan Mangal, principal of Pacific Medical College Udaipur, said: "The division bench only said that if the students want to cancel their admission, they can get a fee refund. Our admissions are already done, and no one has asked for a refund. The court hasn't cancelled admissions, which were already over by November 4. We have already begun our classes. Where will these students go now?"

Mangal also argued that the court couldn't have stayed the single-bench judgment as the situation had changed in the subsequent weeks.

"The admission was conducted by NMC-recognised state counselling board, and they only collected the fees. We are in no position to either admit students or remove them. Why were they admitted in the first place? It's a legal issue, which will continue in the courts. NMC needs to decide what it wants to do about the admitted students. Much water has flown under the bridge since the court considered the status of admission on October 23," he said.

The National Medical Commission (NMC) is the top regulatory body for medical education and the profession in India. Admission counselling, the process of assigning MBBS seats to candidates who have attained the cut-off scores and ranks on the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), is conducted by bodies recognised by the NMC. In Rajasthan’s case, it’s the Rajasthan NEET UG Medical & Dental Admission/Counseling Board-2024.

The board’s chairman, Dr Deepak Maheshwari, interpreted the court decision very differently. "We are seeking legal opinion on the matter but I think that these admissions now stand cancelled," he said, adding that the authority had made it clear to the candidates that their admissions would be subject to the final outcome from the court case.

Dr B Srinivas, NMC secretary, didn't respond to calls or messages from Careers360 .

‘In the dark’ about MBBS seats: Parents

Parents told Careers360 that the college has assured them that their admissions were safe and that they haven't received any word from the NEET UG counselling body.

We thought that since it was the court which had allowed additional seats, and that such issues eventually get resolved, we decided to accept the seat. We are now completely in the dark. The college and the board must find a solution, or else our kids' future will be uncertain," said the mother of a student admitted through management quota.

Keshav Agarwal, a Delhi-based educator, said that the students and parents are in a precarious position after having paid the MBBS fees. “They have paid around Rs 24-25 lakh in addition to hostel charges. It's not clear when and how much they will get back. They should have been properly informed about the legal status of these seats at the time of confirmation of their allotment,” he said.

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MBBS Counselling: Legal battle with NMC

For the past several months, Pacific Medical College has been embroiled in a legal dispute with the NMC over sanctioning of additional intake. In April, NMC's Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) first rejected the college's plea for new seats but a month later, withdrew its order.

In May, a show-cause notice was issued to the institute over alleged deficiencies in faculty and infrastructure. The college was asked to furnish a self-assessment and explain why its existing intake of 150 shouldn't be reduced. Later, on June 5, the regulator imposed a Rs 6 lakh fine on the college for failing to meet its norms.

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After NMC refused to accept its application for enhanced intake, the college filed the first appeal with the commission seeking a review of its decision. However, before the plea was resolved, the institute moved HC alleging delay in hearing the appeal. NMC eventually allowed the college to make its case on July 30, before rejecting its request again.

The college argued before the court that NMC had considered its faculty strength in the months of January and February to conclude the institute fell short of meeting its academic norms. The institute contended that it hired additional faculty members well beyond NMC's requirement in the subsequent period and that the regulator should have noted the faculty strength either on the day of decision or the day before the admission counselling started. It also objected to NMC counting only those faculty members who had recorded more than 75% attendance.

NMC, on the other hand, questioned the maintainability of the college's writ petition, arguing that it hadn't exhausted the second appeal remedy available before moving the court. It also asserted that the court lacked the jurisdiction to sit on a judgement on a decision made by a body of experts. It pointed out that the NMC's guidelines do provide for considering only the faculty members with above 75% attendance record.

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The single bench accepted the college's arguments, while adding that it would have been financially infeasible for the college to hire new teachers, while it waited months for NMC's decision. The court also determined that the institute had sufficient faculty for 250 seats, while ruling that the imposition of fine on the institute shouldn't have any bearing on its pleas for seat enhancement.

The larger bench, however, found merit in NMC's contentions. It said that since no final admission was granted to 70 students who were accepted at the institute by then and neither had the regular session commenced, "therefore, it cannot be held that any legal right in favour of any student has accrued which deserves protection as of date”. “No legal right of any student can be said to have been violated," ruled the court.

The matter will now be heard in December.