Karnataka: Probe ordered into Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences admissions

Mangaluru: The Fee Regulatory Committee has been given a directive by the High Court to investigate into the alleged complaint of an MBBS student who surrendered her seat after allegedly being asked for excess fee by the college authorities. The student had taken admission at the Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences .

The case is that of one Sahana who had taken admission at the Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences, under the 38 government quota seats in the college. The seat given to Sahana was surrendered on October 14, but not without her father complaining to the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA), that the college authorities had compelled her to withdraw her admission. It was alleged that the college management was asking for a fee of R .5 or 6 lac, an exorbitantly high sum of money, that the family could not afford.

The Fee Regulatory Committee is the competent authority to look into the complaint as per provisions of the Karnataka Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Determination of Fee) Act, 2006.

The bench directed the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) to prepare a compilation of the complaint made by Sahana, on the basis of her October 17 letter. The court will also make a reference to the Fee Regulatory Committee to give an opportunity to all concerned, to present their point of view.

In an interim order the court stated: "Alternatively, prima facie, it appears that there was an attempt to compel the student to withdraw and thereby make one seat available in the KEA quota, which may make room for the admission already granted to the petitioner (Aousaf Hussain) by the college management. The attempt on the part of college management, if considered in the light of the complaint made by the student, can be termed as not only unethical but would also be against the standards to be maintained by any medical college in the field of education.”

A Division Bench comprising of Justice P.S. Dinesh Kumar and Justice Jayant M. Patel passed the interim order, while hearing another petition of one Aousaf Hussain, a student who was asked to leave his college, as the state authorities did not approve his admission .The division bench hearing his plea, however, declined to allow an interim petition sought by Aousaf Hussain. A student from Lakshdweep, Hussain was seeking permission to continue his admission to the college.

If the complaint of Ms. Sahana’s father is proven true, it would be a case of “exploitation” by the management or prima facie, an attempt to compel Ms. Sahana to withdraw from the course, thereby, making room to protect the admission of Mr. Hussain, the bench further added.

The Bench has decided to pass the judgment on the basis of the investigation report, without passing a comment on the conduct of the college and its management . The investigation report has to be submitted to the court by February 10, 2017. The Bench has also disallowed Mr. Hussain from continuing with his admission at Kanachur Institute of Medical Sciences.

It also mentioned that the consequence of the investigating report might affect the affiliation granted to the college and therefore, refrained from making any conclusive statements at this juncture.