HYDERABAD: In a significant order, a division bench of the Hyderabad High Court on Friday ordered an enquiry into the alleged irregularities taking place under NCC (National Cadet Corps) quota for medical admissions of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana states. The bench approved the proposal of the NCC directorate nominating deputy director general Brig. Rovin to conduct the said investigation, and made it clear that the probe should be completed and a report be filed before the court on or before September 10.
While rejecting the petitioners’ plea to direct the Universities to admit them, the bench made it clear that both the varsities (Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences and NTR University of Health Sciences) involved in these cases should inform the candidates who have already gained admission under the NCC quota that their admissions would be treated as provisional and that their continuance would depend upon the outcome of the investigation relating to the genuineness of their claims for appropriate priorities.
The bench comprising Justice V Ramasubramanian and Justice J Uma Devi was passing this order in petitions filed by the aspiring students seeking directions to the authorities concerned to treat them as priority in the NCC merit list for admission into MBBS / BDS course for the academic year 2018-19.
The petitioners’ aggrieved either by the grant of wrong priorities or by the alteration of priorities earlier granted to them, and seeking admission to undergraduate medical courses under the one percent quota reserved for NCC cadets.
After hearing the case and perusing the material on record, the bench said that this Court had no reason to suspect the credentials of the NCC Directorate, which was entrusted with the task of preparing priorities. But the way in which they sought to defend themselves, on the basis of truncated documents, which were unrelated to the issue raised and the way in which they had contradicted themselves, indicated that all was not well in the matter of preparation of priorities or even in the matter of laying down the principles for fixing priorities.
“The officer nominated to investigate shall take note of the discrepancies pointed out by the petitioners, examine the records of the local office independently without placing too much reliance upon the ministerial staff employed therein. His investigation shall include issues such as (i) the details of games, both individual and team events, sponsored by NCC Directorate and/or recognized by NCC Directorate (ii) the credentials of the candidates who are already selected for admission under the quota reserved for NCC, (iii) the genuineness of the training undergone by the selected candidates and the genuineness of the certificates produced by them.
The officer entrusted with investigation should keep in mind the fact that the petitioners wanted a CBI investigation, but this court has reposed faith in an officer nominated by the Headquarters. Therefore, if the investigation does not inspire the confidence of this court, the court may have to explore other alternatives”, the bench said and posted the matter to September 10 for placing the investigation report before the court.
Aspiring students file petitions
Petitions were filed by the aspiring students seeking directions to the authorities concerned to treat them as priority in the NCC merit list for admission into MBBS / BDS course for the academic year 2018-19.