Medical course entry in private Maharashtra varsities through state counselling: SC

The Supreme Court on Wednesday vacated the stay granted by the Bombay High Court by which deemed private universities were permitted to admit the students in undergraduate medical courses on the basis of their own counselling based on NEET merit list.

A bench of Justice A.K. Sikri and Justice L. Nageswara Rao, however, said that admissions in the MBBS/dental courses that have already been made in the deemed universities would not be disturbed.

However, they said that the second or third round of counselling would be a joint exercise to be carried out by the "committee of the State Government which shall include one representative each from these universities".

The high court had stayed the notification that mandated the private deemed universities to admit students on the basis of centralised counselling by the state government.

The apex court, having ordered the joint counselling, extended that deadline for the completion of admission from existing September 30 to October 7.

Asking the deemed universities to nominate their respective representatives forthwith, the court in its judgment said: "It would be a centralised counselling for all the deemed universities and not university-wise counselling."

In the second or third counselling, the court said, "students will be taken by making a combined list of those who got themselves registered with the state government as well as the respondent universities".

This, the court said, would ensure admission of those who are more meritorious but left out but are interested in taking admission in the respondent universities.

Asking Maharashtra government and the deemed universities to ensure that all the seats are filled up, the court said: "We make it clear once again that the aforesaid directions are given in the peculiar situation that has arisen."

--IANS

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