The High Court on Thursday upheld the order of admission supervisory committee (ASC) for professional colleges cancelling the entrance test conducted by the Kerala Private Medical College Management Association (KPMCMA) for admission to MBBS management seats.
“There is no meaning in saying that the committee has no power to cancel the entrance test conducted by the consortium,” the court held. The committee was constituted with the avowed object of the entrance test being fair, transparent, merit-based and non-exploitative, it said.
The management cannot conduct the test in the manner as it likes by taking huge sums from candidates, provide question papers to them in advance, clandestinely training them for the test and still claiming that their right to conduct the entrance test cannot be taken away, it said.
A Division Bench comprising Justice K T Sankaran and Justice B Kemal Pasha passed the order while considering the petitions filed by the KPMCMA and MES Medical College challenging an order of the ASC directing Commissioner for Entrance Examinations to conduct the entrance test afresh. Appearing for the state, Government Pleader Roshan D Alexander submitted that the association purposefully chose to conduct the entrance test at the fag-end of the term whereas the state conducts the test by December every year. The ASC had passed the order that the question papers were deliberately leaked out for pecuniary consideration.
The committee had passed the order after conducting a hearing and ascertaining that the question papers were leaked out and special training was given on the previous day of the date of examination to candidates who had paid or offered large sums for admission, it said.
The Bench also viewed the visuals showing malpractice in the conduct of test. It observed some brisk activities going on in secret near the kitchen of the corporate office of the KMCT medical college, a day before the entrance test was held. The DVDs clearly reveal the lack of transparency in conducting the test.
Videos of agents, parents and others showed that there were arrangements for payment of over Rs 35-57 lakh as capitation. The order to conduct a fresh test would ensure that all candidates who had registered for the examination would get an opportunity to appear for it. The order did not violate the directions of the SC regarding the scheduled date of completion. The rights of the managers or the consortium of managements are in no way affected by the conduct of the fresh test, it said. The court also noted that the petitioner was aware of the inquiry proposed to be made by the committee and they did not participate in it deliberately.