BENGALURU: Observing that any illegal act by anyone, much less an instrumentality of the state, cannot be tolerated, the High Court of Karnataka imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 5 lakh on the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) for allotment of MD Radio Diagnosis (MDRD) to a ‘dummy candidate’, which deprived an in-service eligible candidate of the seat she deserved.
“KEA is an instrumentality of the state government. Candidates desirous of obtaining seats for undergraduate and postgraduation courses repose immense trust in the KEA.
Therefore, KEA is bound to practice a fair and transparent method of allotment of seats. But, unfortunately, KEA has dealt with a postgraduate medical seat in this fashion,” the court said, while pointing out that the dummy allotment made in favour of one Nagaraj, who was not in the fray at all, forced the petitioner to accept whichever seat was available.
The division bench of Justice P S Dinesh Kumar and Justice T G Shivashankare Gowda pronounced the order on Friday, while allowing the petition filed by Dr Rajini C K, working at Primary Health Centre, Anegola, in KR Pete taluk of Mandya district, questioning the allotment of MDRD seat to Dr Sunil Kumar H B, working at ESI Dispensary at Harihar in Davanagere, on October 20, 2023.
Setting aside allotment of the seat, the court directed KEA to allot it to Dr Rajini, and ordered the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) to issue necessary instruction to M R Medical College (MRMC), Kalaburagi, to admit her and permit her to attend classes.
It also said that KEA shall ensure that the fee paid by the petitioner for MS-Obstetrics and Gynaecology is adjusted towards her seat in MDRD.
Of the cost of Rs 5 lakh imposed, a sum of Rs 2.50 lakh shall be payable to the petitioner, and the remaining sum shall be paid to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, the court ordered.