Hurry up with Chintpurni Medical College students shifting plea: SC tells High court

Patiala: The Supreme Court, in its latest order, has asked the Punjab and Haryana High Court to hasten the hearing of a case related to the shifting of Chintpurni Medical College to other medical colleges in Punjab. 249 students of the college are presently, facing an uncertain future. These students procured admissions while the college did not even have a Medical Council of India (MCI) recognition.

Started by BJP leader Swaran Salaria in 2011, the college had admitted 150 students for its Ist batch. The ensuing years of 2012,2013 saw no admissions at the college as it failed the MCI approvals for these years. 2014 saw an exception as the college despite not fulfilling MCI norms managed to admit 101 students after it moved the Supreme Court against the MCI decision.

The supreme court ordered the college management to file a compliance report with a surety of Rs 10 crore. It asked the college to overcome all its shortcomings and come up with the expectations of the MCI. The college despite having deposited Rs. 10 crores as surety failed to comply with the MCI norms, leading to a loss of its deposit.

2015 led to another admission denial by the MCI. 2016 had the supreme court form a special committee to look into the compliances and allowed it to admit 148 students along with a Rs. 2 crore surety. Compliance failures again surfaced at Chintpurni.

Meanwhile, the 2011 batch of students moved the Punjab and Haryana High Court for a shift to other medical colleges of Punjab. The HC allowed their plea following which the students of the 2014 batch also filed a similar petition, which was also allowed by the court.

When the latter batch was not shifted their parents filed a contempt petition in the High court. In the course of hearings, the Director, Medical Research and Education (DRME), and Health Secretary, Punjab informed the court that the remaining students would be shifted by January 2017.

Meanwhile, the state government also ordered the closure of the Gian Sagar Medical and Dental College, Banur. 1,550 students of Gian Sagar from medical, dental, nursing and physiotherapy courses were shifted to other colleges in Punjab.

The reason given by the government for its inability to shift Chintpurni college students was the lack of seat availability.

Dr Sushil Garg, President, Chintpurni Medical College Parents' Association, moved the Supreme Court challenging the MCI for its repeated admission denials.

During the last hearing, the apex court paid heed to his plea for shifting of 249 students of the college and gave a directive to the Punjab and Haryana High Court to take up their case in the first week of September for an early decision.

The apex court also clarified that the "high court should not adjourn the matter solely on the ground that the writ petition preferred by the institution was pending before the Supreme Court."

Chintpurni Medical College has once again been denied admission permission for MBBS courses for 2017-18 and 2018-19 by the Union health ministry. The Ministry has also allowed the Medical Council of India (MCI) to encash the surety Rs 2 crore.

The MCI, in its report, again spoke of compliances not having been met with. It claimed there to be 'serious deficiencies' in college infrastructure, human resources and patient load. A total of 20 deficiencies were counted and admissions denied once again, reports TOI.