SC flags courts blocking MBBS seats | India News

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has not upheld the HC’s interim order to keep an MBBS seat in a medical college vacant for a candidate who claimed wrongful denial of admission, saying such an order can be issued only in exceptional cases if a candidate presents a strong prima facie case . case.
This order was issued by a bench of Justices BR Gavai and KV Viswanathan, who was faced with a sad situation when the two colleges approached the SC, saying that the HC, which held the reserved seats for the candidates, had subsequently rejected the petitions and the deadline for admission had expired. the seats will now remain vacant for the entire five-year education period, causing great harm to them.
Writing the judgment, Justice Viswanathan said: “Interim orders will result in retention of seats only if there is a cast-iron case for the petitioner and the petitioner is bound to succeed where the error of the respondent authorities is so great as to override any other outcome. The vacancy may be made available.”
The board said courts certainly have the power to reserve a seat for applicants who demonstrate a strong prima facie case for admission to a university, but the court must do so “with great care and caution.”
“In appropriate cases, even if the above-mentioned exceptional criterion is met, the court will be justified in directing the petitioner to the relevant college institution on whose behalf it has been ultimately decided to keep the vacancy, or on whose behalf it will provide security. As a result, liability for the vacancy will fall,” the board said, adding that if the petition is rejected, He added that deposits could be given to colleges to compensate for their financial losses.
It was stated that even when it is decided to keep a seat vacant, the court making such decision must decide the matter before the conclusion of the admission counseling.
“It must be remembered that while the recurring and non-recurring expenses of a college remain the same, the vacancy will deprive the college of fees at that rate not just for one year but for the entire course of four, five or more years.” he said.
The board, which is not inclined to create an additional seat in lieu of vacancies for the next academic session, has asked colleges to approach the statutory Fee Fixation Committee with a request to allow a marginal increase in fee to compensate for the loss due to the seat. divorced by court decision.