HC asks Gujarat government not to finalize medical admissions yet

AHMEDABAD: A division bench of Chief Justice R Subhash Reddy and Justice V M Pancholi passed oral instructions directing the government not to finalise students' admission in the colleges for medical, para-medical and dental courses in institutes in the state.
The judges gave the directions while hearing a petition challenging the government's decision to abolish 15 per cent NRI quota.
The bench, however, allowed the government to continue with the admission process till the next date of hearing on July 11.
Government counsel told the court that there is no question of finalising admission as NRI quota is filled based on the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) marks, the second round of which is yet to be held.
Also, admission in medical, para-medical and dental colleges for 2016 is at an initial stage with only applications being invited so far.
An NRI student, Prati Patel, had challenged the constitutional validity of the Gujarat Professional Medical Educational Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) (Amendment) Ordinance, 2016, issued last month. The Ordinance abolished 15 per cent NRI quota on the grounds that it was not benefiting students from the state. Instead, the quota was merged with the management quota for self-financed colleges.
Patel said in her petition that she came to Gujarat to seek admission in medical colleges under NRI quota and hence she decided not to seek admission in any college in the USA from where she hails.
"The decision to abolish the quota also violates a Supreme Court's order in 2006 that created the quota in the first place," she said in the petition.