HC directs Chintpurni Medical College shifting in the next 2 months

Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the shifting of the Chintpurni Medical College students to other medical colleges ruling that the Punjab Government could not forgo its responsibility towards petitioner-students of Chintpurni Medical College and Hospital, Pathankot.

“The state and the respondents are mandated to follow the law and now make arrangements to shift the petitioners to other medical colleges as per the procedure laid down by the Medical Council of India… Let the necessary exercise be concluded within two months,” Justice Ajay Tewari ruled. In all, 101 students would be shifted.

The Court directive came in response to a plea by Aakansha Mahajan and other petitioners against the Union of India and other respondents.

The petitioner-MBBS students (2014-15 academic session) had moved the court last year for directing the official respondents for a shift to other recognised colleges in Punjab.

Their plea was that the college was not in a position to impart necessary education for doctoral study.

Justice Tewari stated that the Union of India imposed admission restrictions on the college for the next two years due to infra structural deficiencies.

“This is precisely what the petitioners had been clamouring for since April 21, 2016,” Justice Tewari asserted.

In response to the argument of the respondent-college that the Union of India’s order could not be taken as final, as the Supreme Court had permitted it to challenge the same, Justice Tewari said the state, the Medical Council of India and the Union had all reached the conclusion that Institute had failed infrastructural compliance.

Justice Tewari added the respondent-college though not closed was merely limping along; involved in run-ins with the authorities since its establishment in 2011.

“This is the second or third occasion when the admissions have been barred,” Justice Tewari observed.

The Bench said its only concern was the plight of the petitioners presently. For the past one-and-a-half years, they have been before the High Court. “To say the least, during this entire time their education has taken a back seat…. In my considered opinion, the scales are weighed in favour of the students,” Justice Tewari added reports Tribune.