SARABJIT KAUR Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE present writ petition has been filed by 57 petitioners, who are seeking a direction that roll numbers/admit cards be issued to them and they be allowed to sit in the Auxiliary Nurses & Mid -wives Course (for short, the 'ANM course') theory examinations, commencing from January, 2013.

(2.) IN view of the fact that the writ petition came up for hearing on 21.01.2013, for the first time, interim orders were passed permitting the petitioners to appear in the examination which were commencing from 22.01.2013 and now, it is the case of the petitioner that since they have sat in the said examination, their result should be declared. This Court is, however, not in agreement with the said relief, which is prayed for, in view of the reasons which would be delineated below and from the facts which show that how training for the noble profession of nursing as depicted in the minds of the public of the famous example of "Florence Nightingale" fondly remembered as "The Lady with the Lamp", nursing the patients, has been reduced to a farce by the respondent No. 4 -Institute, mainly due to the inaction of respondents No. 2 & 3, the Punjab Nurses Registration Council.

(3.) IN January, 2011, CWP No. 1747 of 2011 titled EHSAAS, The Human Rights Protection Group, India, Kurukshetra Vs. State of Punjab & others was filed as Public Interest Litigation and respondents No. 2 & 3 were impleaded as party plus various institutes who were alleged to be imparting education for nursing training. Respondent No. 4 -Institute was also arrayed as respondent No. 11 in the said writ petition. Relief prayed in the said writ petition was for directions to strictly adhere to the procedure and guidelines dated 05.07.2004, issued by the State Government wherein admission was to be made in consonance with the procedure laid down in the said notification for the General Nursing & Midwifery Course & ANM training courses. The grouse of the petitioner in the said case inter alia was also that additional students had been admitted in excess of the prescribed strength and no action had been taken against the violators. This Court, vide order dated 12.12.2011, directed that the Director, PGI, Chandigarh to constitute a Committee of three experts to go into functioning of the private nursing colleges in the State of Punjab for the purpose of ascertaining whether the nursing courses offered by the said institutions are genuine and properly trained nurses are passing out through the institutions to serve the public cause. The report of the functioning of the private nursing colleges/institutions by Dr. A.K. Bhalla, Professor, Department of Paediatrics, PGIMER, Dr. Sandhya Ghai, Principal, National Institute of Nursing Education, PGIMER and Dr. Bhavneet Bharti, Department of Paediatrics, PGIMER, dated 23.05.2012 was placed on record. The report pertaining to respondent No. 4 -Institute would go on to show that it was non -functional and non -existant. The relevant portion of the report pertaining to respondent No. 4 read as under: