IMPORTANT POINT
Admission given on the basis of Entrance examination conducted contrary to law cannot be approved.

Headnote:Medical education – CGMAT conducted by the College on 3rd April, 2016 contrary to the schedule prescribed by MCI and approved by the Supreme Court – Impropriety in the conduct of the examination is irrelevant – Further, after decision of Supreme Court dated 11th April, 2016 there was no occasion for College to conduct CGMAT on 19th April, 2016 – The College and the State of Chhattisgarh not adhering to the law – Petitioner not entitled to any relief. (Para 13, 14, 15, 17)
       (2014) 2 SCC 305; (2016) 4 SCC 342; (2016) 11 SCC 225; (2016) 7 SCC 487 – Referred
       Facts of the case:
       This writ petition concerns the validity of admission granted to the petitioner by respondent No.3 (C.M. Medical College & Hospital) to the MBBS course.
       The result of the examination conducted by the college was declared on 11th April, 2016 and the petitioner qualified in the examination. On 19th April, 2016 counseling was conducted for the petitioner and he was granted admission for the MBBS course by the College after all formalities were completed.
       As per the prescribed schedule notified by MCI the conduct of entrance examination was to take place between 1st and 7th May and the result of the qualifying examination/entrance examination was to be declared by 1st June. Thus, the examination conducted by the College on 3rd April, 2016 being CGMAT-2016 was in defiance of the notification issued by the Medical Council of India, and the schedule approved by the Supreme Court. Similarly, admission granted to the petitioner on 19th April, 2016 was notwithstanding the orders of Supreme Court passed on 11th April, 2016 read with the notification dated 21st December, 2010 and the schedule prescribed by the Medical Council of India.
       By an order dated 6th May, 2016 in Sankalp Charitable Trust it was made clear that no examination shall be permitted to be held for admission for MBBS studies by any private college or association or any private/deemed University.
       An order was also passed by Supreme Court making it clear that all such candidates who could not appear in NEET-I and those who had appeared but had an apprehension that they had not prepared well, would be permitted to appear in NEET-II subject to an option from these candidates to give up their candidature for NEET-1. It was further clarified that only NEET would enable students to get admission to MBBS studies.
       It is clear that admissions to the MBBS course could only through NEET-I and NEET-II. No other process of admission was permissible. The Director of Medical Education in Chhattisgarh, therefore, wrote to the College on or about 13th July, 2016 to take steps to cancel all the admissions made by the College in terms of the examination CGMAT – 2016 held for students for the management quota and NRI quota. Eventually by a letter dated 28th July, 2016 the Director of Medical Education in Chhattisgarh recommended to the College to cancel admissions made to the MBBS course.
       Finding of the Court:
       Petitioner is not entitle to any relief.
       Result: Petition dismissed.

JUDGMENT

Madan B. Lokur, J.

W.P. (C) No. 677 OF 2016

1. The question for consideration in this writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution concerns the validity of admission granted to the petitioner by respondent No.3 (C.M. Medical College & Hospital -for short the College) to the MBBS course. In our opinion, the admission granted by the College to the petitioner was unjustified and therefore his

2. On 21st December, 2010 a gazette notification was issued by the Medical Council of India amending the “Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997” to the effect, inter alia, that admissions to the MBBS course shall be based solely on marks obtained in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (for short NEET). This notification was challenged by, amongst others, Christian Medical College Vellore in a batch of petitions before this Court which came to be allowed. The decision of this Court is dated 18th July, 2013 and is reported as Christian Medical College, Vellore & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors, (2014) 2 SCC 305. The gazette notification dated 21st December, 2010 was quashed. As a result, admission of a student to the MBBS course through NEET was no longer mandatory.

3. Subsequently, petitions were filed for a review of the decision rendered by this Court and these review petitions ultimately came to be referred to a Bench of five learned judges of this Court. By an order dated 11th April, 2016 in Medical Council of India v. Christian Medical College, Vellore & Ors., (2016) 4 SCC 342 the review petitions were allowed and the decision rendered by this Court on 18th July, 2013 was recalled and it was directed that all the matters be considered afresh.

4. Prior to this, the College wrote to the State of Chhattisgarh on or about 29th October, 2015 seeking permission to conduct examinations for the management quota and NRI seats for the MBBS course for the academic year 2016-17. The State of Chhattisgarh granted permission to the College to conduct examinations by its letter dated 5th November, 2015.

5. Consequent upon the permission granted by the State of Chhattisgarh to conduct examinations, the College issued an advertisement inviting applications on 28th January, 2016 and eventually conducted the examination on 3rd April, 2016. The examination called CGMAT-2016 was monitored by the State of Chhattisgarh and according to the College as well as the State there were no irregularities in the conduct of the examination.

6. The result of the examination was declared on 11th April, 2016 and the petitioner qualified in the examination. On 19th April, 2016 that is after this Court had decided to review its decision and had recalled the judgment dated 18th July, 2013, counseling was conducted for the petitioner and he was granted admission for the MBBS course by the College after all formalities were completed.

7. At this stage, it may be mentioned that the Medical Council of India published a notification in 2015 amending the “Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997” whereby a time schedule for completion of the admission process for First MBBS Course was prescribed. This notification is reproduced and the Schedule given therein was approved in Ashish Ranjan v. Union of India, (2016) 11 SCC 225 decided on 18th January, 2016. As per the prescribed schedule, the conduct of entrance examination was to take place between 1st and 7th May and the result of the qualifying examination/entrance examination was to be declared by 1st June. In other words, the examination conducted by the College on 3rd April, 2016 being CGMAT-2016 was in defiance of the notification issued by the Medical Council of India, and the schedule approved by this Court. Similarly, admission granted to the petitioner on 19th April, 2016 was notwithstanding the orders of this Court passed on 11th April, 2016 read with the notification dated 21st December, 2010 and the schedule prescribed by the Medical Council of India.

8. There are a few other orde

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2017 Supreme(SC) 62

IMPORTANT POINTAdmission given on the basis of Entrance examination conducted contrary to law cannot be approved.

Cases Referred (4)

IMPORTANT POINT
Admission given on the basis of Entrance examination conducted contrary to law cannot be approved.