NEW DELHI: Terming it a mass fraud, the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the cancellation of admission of 634 students to the MBBS course through the Vyapam test in Madhya Pradesh.
“The actions of the appellants are founded on unacceptable behaviour and in complete breach of the rule of law. Their actions constitute acts of deceit, invading into a righteous social order. National character, in our considered view, can-not be sacrificed for the benefits of an individual or society,” said a three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice J S Khehar.
“If we desire to build a nation on the touchstone of ethics and character and if our determined goal is to build a nation where only the rule of law prevails, then we cannot accept the claim of the appellants for the suggested societal gains... We have no difficulty whatsoever in concluding in favour of the rule of law.
Such being the position, it is not possible for us to extend to the appellants, any benefit under Article 142 of the Constitution,” the bench added.
The batch of matters was referred to the three-judge bench after a two-judge bench of Justices J Chelameswar and A M Sapre, though they concurred regarding the guilt of adopting unfair means by the medical aspirants, differed on the quantum of sentence.
In its 87-page judgement, the three-judge bench of the Supreme Court said on Monday that the case in hand highlighted the mass fraud and if any leniency was shown to the students, it would encourage others to engage in such practices.