Dental College given time by High Court to return capitation fee to foreign students

Chennai: The Ruling bench of the Madras High Court headed by Justice MS Ramesh on Thursday granted a weeks time to the Management of Asan Dental College , Keerpakkam to enter into an amicable settlement with foreign students it had granted admission to, in its undergraduate dental courses, prior to the verdict given by the Supreme Court, last May, making the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), mandatory for all. The students have been demanding a refund of money deposited by them towards their admission in April last year.

The court was responding to a petition filed by the administrators of the college to quash an FIR registered against them by Thirukalukundram police on the basis of a complaint lodged by Nasser Hamidavi Zegheiri, an Iranian student.

The student’s Counsel, R.C. Paul Kanagaraj in his arguments presented that many medical and dental colleges of the state had admitted foreign nationals prior to the apex court’s judgment. Most of the colleges he further stated had returned the capitation fee to the students, with the exception of the Management of Asan Medical College.

The Counsel alleged and claimed that for the moment only 4 were calling for the return of funds as the rest had returned to their homeland. The Counsel further claimed that the students had paid Rs 25 lakh capitation fee for each of the admissions. However, Counsel for the College Management mentioned in the FIR contested that they were in possession of receipts to prove payment of Rs.5.5 lakh only, by the complainants.

The Counsel further stated that no criminal offense had been made out against the college administrators as they were willing to take on the students for the course even now. The student could very well start attending classes the Counsel further stated.

The judge referring to the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University proceedings that discharged the complainant from the course, for not having cleared NEET, said that it would not be possible for the student to continue the course. He also took note of a letter sent to the Iranian Embassy by the university on April 11 informing that admissions of as many as 12 Iranians had been cancelled from the dental courses of colleges affiliated to the university, for the year 2016-17 reports The Hindu.