R R PATIL Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE controversy involved herein relates to the method of admission of Post Graduate Medical and Dental courses in the colleges run by the private managements The crucial question is as to whether the college Managements are entitled to device and adopt their own individual yardsicks of determining the inter se merits of candidates aspiring for the courses and give admissions to them as per their choice, or, they are mandatorily bound to adhere to the norms and procedure statutorily laid down by the University Grants Commission, Medical Council of India or the Dental Council, of India (in short UGC, MCI and DCI respectively), as the case may be.

(2.) WE find it proper to mention at the very threshold that the UGC, MCI and DCI have been established under the Parliamentary Acts. These Acts are University Grants Commission Act, 1956, Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and the Dentists Act, 1948 (in short the "ugc Act", "mci Act" and "dentists Act. ). The said bodies, in order to carry out their statutory duties have framed regulations, inter alia to regulate admissions to P. G. Courses as well, in light of which we are required to determine the impugned rights of the private managements to admit students at their discretion. Certain constitutional issues pertaining to interpretation of relevant legislative entries have also been raised as so as to limit the scope and applicability of the said Regulations in order to emphasize the exclusive power of the State Government to regulate admissions and the extent of absolute discretion of the management in this regard.

(3.) WRIT Petition No. 30353/2001 has been filed as a Public Interest Litigation. The petitioner had been the Principal of various colleges. He, based on his personal experience and knowledge, has alleged that the Managements of private medical colleges have been giving admission to Post Graduate courses (PG courses) to the desiring candidates by charging heavy capitation fees in flagrant violation of all statutorily prescribed norms and procedure with active connivance of the State Government and thus had been unjustly enriching themselves at the cost of standard of education, fairness, moral values and social needs. According to him, the situation is devasting and requires immediate intervention of the Court. The petitioner emphazies for need of offering the higher and superspeciality courses only to most deserving candidates based on their acacemic achiverments and not on their economic power and manipulative skills.