Vyapam scam: SC revokes admission of medical students

The Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the admission of more than 300 students from Madhya Pradesh who gained entry in medical colleges through unfair means.

MBBS students who gained admission fraudulently between the years 2008 and 2012 were affected by the judgment delivered on Monday.

"It would not be proper to legitimise the admission of the appellants, to the MBBS course," said a three-judge bench led by the Chief Justice of India. "In our considered view, the appellants had consciously sought the assistance of a syndicate, engaged in manipulating admissions to medical institutions. They were beneficiaries of acts of deceit and deception," the apex court added.

The order came on the heels of a recommendation put forth by the earlier bench comprising of Justices Chelameshwar and AM Sapre who though striking down the admission in May 2016, held opposing views.

Justice J Chelameshwar held the view that since the students were well on their way to completing the course it would be a shame to waste the resources and knowledge gained. Justice Chelameshwar had suggested that the students be allowed to complete the course under the condition that they would serve the country for five years without pay. However, Justice Sapre contended that the accused students should be barred considering the graveness of the crime.

In their judgment, the three-judge bench comprising the Chief Justice of India JS Khehar, Justices Kurian Joesph and Arun Misra, while upholding the view forwarded by Justice Sapre, added, "Even the trivialist act of wrong doing, based on a singular act of fraud, cannot be countenanced, in the name of justice. The present case, unfolds a mass fraud. The course suggested, if accepted, would not only be imprudent, but would also be irresponsible. It would encourage others, to follow the same course."

"We may not be completely wrong in our understanding, if we conclude, that the appellants were quite sure, that they would not be able to gain admission to the MBBS course, on their own merit. That is why, they had to strategise their admission to the MBBS course," the top court said.

The scam broke out in 2013 when an invigilator overlooking a test at for a veterinary colleges realised that one of the candidates was not who he claimed to be.

Apart from the wrong doing, it was a series of reported deaths surrounding this case threw the spotlight on this scam. Several middlemen and witnesses associated with the scam mysteriously died. Though, the scam gained nationwide notoriety when a journalist died within hours of interviewing a person of interest who allegedly had links to the scam.