Permit 2nd year Annai Medical College MBBS students attend classes with 3rd year: Madras HC to State

Chennai: The Madras High Court, in a verdict passed recently, has ordered the state government and the Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University to conduct the 2^nd year examinations in August 2019 for the 144 relocated MBBS students of defunct Annai Medical College.

In addition, the court directed the authorities to permit the students to attend third-year classes along with regular students and continue their studies from April 2019 onwards.

The bench headed by honourable Justice N Kirubakaran passed the directives while disposing of a batch of revision and writ petitions from the MBBS students.

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that after Annai Medical College was debarred by Medical Council of India (MCI) from admitting MBBS students for 2017-2018 and 2018-2019; the medical college’s hospital had been shut down, with most of its staff leaving due to the crisis brewing in the institution. Owned by Sri Devi Karumari Amman Educational Trust, the college owed more than Rs 86 crore to the Central Bank of India and another Rs 60 crore to Bank of India.

Subsequently, more than 100 MBBS students, already studying at the medical college, moved the state HC.

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Taking consideration on the plea, the HC directed the government to accommodate the 144 MBBS students of a defunct medical college in any other state-run institute.

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The order was complied with and the students were accommodated in government medical colleges.

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Deccan Chronicle reports that the court had directed the government to conduct special classes to these MBBS students. However, the government approached the HC to modify this order where it contended that as per the regulations of the MCI, the MBBS students did not have enough time to hold special classes. The HC then concluded that it was not possible to have extra classes.

In cognizance of this modified order, the Director of Medical Education (DME) issued a circular dated May 9, 2018, stating that the relocated MBBS students are eligible to appear for second-year examinations only in August 2019 and third-year examinations in August 2020 and subsequently, in August 2021, for final year examinations.

Aggrieved, the MBBS students filed the present petition challenging the circular. They stated that this circular is barring them from taking their second-year exams in 2019 since they did not have the required clinical hours.

A group of MBBS students sought to review the court’s earlier order dated April 28, 2018, in which it had stated that it’s not possible to conduct special classes for students.

Now, during the recent hearing, after perusing all the submissions, the HC noted that the students had already attended the classes and they are having 62 per cent to 70 per cent of attendance against the minimum of 75 per cent required in theory as well as clinical classes to write the second year examinations. According to a TNIE report, Justice Kirubakaran passed the following directives:

“…to give effect to the order passed by the court on December 22, 2017, this court is of the view to allow the relocated students to continue to attend the second year classes till March 2019. After classes for third-year students commence, the accommodated students will be allowed to merge with regular students, namely, III year students and continue their studies from April 2019 onwards....”

"...Since the requirement of Medical Council of India regulations is 75 per cent of attendance, there should not be any problem for the MCI or for the Dr MGR Medical University or for the state government in permitting the accommodated students to write the second year examination in August 2019 and similarly, there should not be any problem in allowing the students to merge with third-year students from April 2019 onwards,"

Noting the grievances of the MBBS students, the HC bench held,

“This order is passed taking into consideration the peculiar circumstances of students, who continue to suffer for no fault of theirs. They should be given a helping hand so that they merge with third-year students”

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