CHENNAI:A PIL has been filed in the Madras High Court for a directive to the medical counselling committee (MCC) attached to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in New Delhi and the Centralised Admission Committee (CENTAC) in Puducherry to take penal action against 10 medical colleges and deemed to be universities in the Union Territory for admitting students in first year MBBS without counselling and after the cut-off date of September 30, 2017. The plea also sought a directive to them to surrender the 883 seats, that were filled up during 2016-17 and 2017-18 for 2018-19 academic year.
A division bench of Justices T S Sivagnanam and Bhavani Subbaroyan, before which the PIL from G Panchapakesan came up for hearing on July 10, ordered notice to the authorities concerned returnable in three weeks.
According to M Ravi, counsel, after several representations to Medical Council of India (MCI) and following the intervention of the Lieutenant Governor, the MCI on September 7, 2017 had issued show cause notices (SCNs) to the students, who had secured admissions in the first year course in various medical colleges and deemed to be universities in Puducherry during 2016-17 without common counselling and after the cut off date of September 30, 2017 fixed by MCI and the Supreme Court. Aggrieved, the students approached the High Court, which had granted an interim stay on the operation of the SCNs. None of the official respondents did take any steps to expedite the pending cases.
In as much as the proceedings issued by MCI by invoking Sec. 7 (6)(A) of MCI regulations had been stayed, a fresh cause of action has arisen for the council to invoke Sec. 7(6)(B) of the regulations, which enabled it to discharge the students from the course of study or to de-recognise their medical qualification. The institutions, which had admitted students after the last date specified, should also be liable to face penal action as prescribed by MCI, including the surrender of the seats equivalent to the extent of such admission made from its sanctioned intake capacity for the succeeding academic year, counsel contended.