BENGALURU: The High Court has ordered the Fee Regulatory Committee to hold an inquiry into a complaint filed by a MBBS student alleging that she had to surrender her seat as the Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, Mangaluru, had demanded more than the prescribed fee.
A division bench of Justice Jayant M Patel and Justice P S Dinesh Kumar had issued this direction recently while declining to allow an interim petition sought by Aousaf Hussain, a student from Lakshdweep, seeking permission to continue his admission to the college.
The Fee Regulatory Committee is the competent authority to look into the complaint as per provisions of the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006. The bench ordered that the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) shall prepare a compilation of the complaint made by Sahana on the basis of the letter dated October 17. They shall also make a reference to the Fee Regulatory Committee to hold an enquiry by giving opportunity to all the affected parties.
The bench said the Committee’s enquiry as well as recommendation, if any, shall be finalised on or before February 7, and the report shall be submitted to the DME and KEA on or before February 10.
In its interim order, the bench said in the complaint to KEA, Sahana’s father had alleged that the management of the respondent college compelled her to surrender her admission as she could not pay the annual fees of `5 to `6 lakh.
“Alternatively, prima facie, it appears that there was an attempt to compel the student to withdraw and thereby make one seat available in the KEA quota, which may make room for the admission already granted to the petitioner (Aousaf Hussain) by the college management. The attempt on the part of college management, if considered in the light of the complaint made by the student, can be termed as not only unethical but would also be against the standards to be maintained by any medical college in the field of education,” the bench said.
The bench also observed that the consequence, which may affect the affiliation granted to the college, is an aspect which may depend upon the outcome of the enquiry and, therefore, it would not propose to make any concluding observations.