No Transfer for Medico on grounds of Pollution: High Court

Mumbai: Health grounds for medical transfer have to be genuine in nature for judicial sanction to be granted to medical students. This was proven when the Bombay High Court rejected a petition submitted by a medical student seeking a transfer from Kolhapur Medical College to one in Pune or Mumbai, on grounds of asthma and the Kolhapur climate not being conducive for health. The rejection came as the court upheld that the two cities of transfer option, given by the student, were more polluted than Kolhapur, and therefore, a shift to either would prove more harmful.

Janaki Shende the student in question was 37th on the merit list for transfer to one of the nine vacant seats in colleges in Pune or Mumbai and having failed to secure one, had filed the petition.

A division bench comprising of Justice B. P. Colabawala and Justice B. R. Gavai gave this directive in response to a writ petition filed by Ms. Shende, a first-year student of Government Medical College, Kolhapur, seeking a transfer in the open category to any of the five colleges she opted for in Pune or Mumbai due to health reasons.

The petitioner had pleaded that since she had she had been unsuccessful in managing a transfer, the court should give a directive to the Director of Medical Education and Research (DMER) for the same.

On hearing the petition and the DMER's response to it, the court observed it had gone through the criteria of merit and since the student was 37th in the list for the nine vacant seats, there was nothing wrong if the state did not concede to her request for the desired transfer.

Stating that both Pune and Mumbai were more polluted than Kolhapur, the Court rejected the petition reports the Asian Age.