Updated on: Friday, December 31, 2010
The Madras High Court has asked the Medical Council of India (MCI) as to what action it proposed to take against a private medical college for unfairly denying a seat to a girl student.
The first bench comprising Chief Justice M Yusuf Eqbal and justice TS Sivagnanam passed orders on the petition of S Kiruthika who was allotted an MBBS seat under government quota in Sri Muthukumaran Medical College at Mangadu, but was not give admission because she could not reach the college before 5 P.M..
The Judges also referred to the MCI's submission in court that the college could have admitted her.
The MCI had informed the court that the college had admitted eight management quota students after 5 pm on September 30 and that it could have admitted Kiruthika also in a similar manner.
They directed the MCI to file an affidavit on this point on January 3, 2011, failing which the court would order personal appearance of the official concerned.
The case of Kiruthika was that after being intimated on September 26, her father was busy arranging Rs 6.2 lakh, which was the government-fixed fee for the college.
Though her father was in the medical college from 11 am on September 30, the last day for her admission, Krithika who met with an accident could not reach the college.
The accident happened while rushing to Chennai from Thanjavur.
After lodging a police complaint at 4.45 pm she reached college at 5.40 pm. The college authorities denied her the seat on the ground that the joining time lapsed at 5 pm and that the seat had been allotted to one Sanjeev, under management quota.
In her petition, she argued that though the MCI had fixed September 30 as the last date for MBBS admission, it had not specified any time limit.
The college's action was tainted with malafide motive and illegalities.