Expressing concern over the future of students who take admission in medical and other professional colleges filling the seats that have been increased by a high court through an interim order, the Supreme Court has directed that the courts shouldn’t pass such orders as that could put the careers of young aspirants in jeopardy.
Allowing an appeal filed by the Medical Council of India against an interim order passed by the Karnataka high court allowing JSS Medical College to increase the number of seats from 150 to 200, the top court on Thursday said HCs ought to realize that granting such permission by an interim order has “a cascading effect”.
The students who get admission in a college on the basis of such an interim relief to an institution, either consciously or due to ignorance, don’t get court’s sympathy when finally the interim measure is scrapped.
“It results in very awkward and difficult situation. If on ultimate analysis it is found that the college’s claim for increase of seats is untenable, in such an event the admission of students with reference to the increased seats shall be illegal,” a bench of justices HL Dattu and Chandramauli Kumar Prasad observed.
“We cannot imagine anything more destructive of the rule of law than a direction by the court to allow continuance of such students, whose admissions is found illegal in the ultimate analysis,” the court said while asking the HC to expeditiously dispose of JSS medical college’s writ petition that has challenged the MCI’s rejection of its request to increase the number of seats.
The said courts can’t by “its fiat” increase the seats, a task entrusted to the Board of Governors and that too by interim order.
Comments