New Delhi (ILNS): The Supreme Court has ruled that private medical colleges are not obliged to provide any NRI quota for admissions in any given year. The existing norm of 15 percent is not mandatory and if a medical college or institution or the state regulating authority decides to do away with it, it just has to give reasonable notice.
The order was passed by the bench of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and S. Ravindra Bhat. The bench said that the notice was a requisite if NRI quotas had been given earlier. The notification would allow the candidate to apply elsewhere, and this is especially important within the current pandemic situation.
The bench was hearing a petition challenging the order of a division bench of the Rajasthan High Court which had overruled the order of a single judge bench of the that court.
The high court found that the change of seat matrix by eliminating the NRI quota for admission to post graduate medical and dental courses in colleges in Rajasthan, for the academic year 2020-21, was unsustainable in law.
The bench, however, upheld the other decision of the Rajastha High Court and observed that “the NRI quota is neither sacrosanct, not inviolable in terms of existence in any given year, or its extent.”
The bench further observed that a combined effect of the provisions of the Medical Council of India Act and regulations with respect to admissions and the decisions of the Supreme Court, is that “private colleges and institutions which offer such professional and technical courses, have some elbow room.” They can decide whether, and to what extent, they wish to offer NRI or management quotas.
Referring to PA Inamdar Judgment, the bench said that there is nothing in the judgment which says that a 15% NRI quota is an unqualified and unalterable part of the admission process in post graduate medical courses. It was, and remains within the discretionaryauthority of the management of private medical colleges, within their internal policy making domain.
The bench further clarified that the “discretion should be tempered; if the discretion to have such a quota is exercised, it should be revised or modified reasonably, and within reasonable time.”
The Court also expressed its opinion that having regard to the prevailing conditions, a special counselling session should be carried out by the board, confined or restricted to the seats in respect of which admissions were made pursuant to the single judge’s directions.
Read the Judgment here;
Nilay-Gupta-vs-Chairman-NEET-Medical-and-Dental-Admissions-ILNS