Updated on: Wednesday, September 12, 2012
The Supreme Court has directed the Union and the Delhi governments to ensure that from the next academic year, an MBBS aspirant seeking admission in a medical college on a Nominees of Government of India (NGOI) category seat takes the all-India entrance test to secure it.
A candidate under the NGOI category is one who belongs to a state or Union territory where there are no adequate medical colleges. They also include the children of the Defence or the paramilitary force personnel, who have sacrificed their lives or have been permanently disabled in wars or terrorist attacks.
A bench of justices A K Patnaik and Swatanter Kumar also held that no student under the NGOI category, who has failed the Delhi University Medical Entrance Test (DUMET), would be granted admission to a medical college here.
"We direct that from the academic year 2013-2014 onwards, the candidate applying for the seats reserved for NGOI have to obtain the minimum prescribed mark in the All India National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for admission to the MBBS course as provided in the amended MCI Regulations and the admissions will be made on merit...
"We direct that with effect from academic year 2012-2013, no admission will be made to any of the seats reserved for NGOI in Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC), Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) and University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS) of any student who has failed in the Delhi University Medical Entrance Test (DUMET)," the bench said.
The apex court's directions came on appeals filed by two MBBS aspirants against the Delhi High Court's verdict, which had dismissed their plea challenging the NGOI category and the practice of exempting students under this category from taking the DUMET.
The bench also directed that "if there are vacant seats in the quota for NGOI in the LHMC and MAMC for the academic year 2011-12, the petitioners would be admitted against those vacant seats on the basis of their merit in DUMET 2011-2012 during the academic year 2012-2013."
The Delhi High Court had rejected the MBBS aspirants' plea to quash the nominations and to issue directions to admit them in the academic year of 2011-12, saying the admission process for that session was already underway.
The apex court also directed that "the Central government will make a review of the government and private medical colleges which have been established in the meanwhile in the States/Union Territories to which seats are being allocated under the quota for NGOI.
It added "if they find that additional intake capacity for the MBBS course has been created in these States / Union Territories, the Central government will take a fresh decision on the number of seats in the MBBS course to be reserved for NGOI for these States with effect from the academic year 2013-2014."