296 MBBS students issued nativity certificate sans scrutiny

The Madras High Court was today informed that nativity certificates presented by 296 students from other states admitted to MBBS courses in Tamil Nadu through NEET in 2017-18 were found to have been issued without any inquiry or scrutiny.
The submission was made by a committee of advocates and government officials after a random verification of the certificates complying with a directive of Justice N Kirubakaran.
The judge had earlier given the direction on a batch of petitions by aspiring medical students seeking to quash the merit list of the admission on the ground that many students from outside the state allegedly produced dual nativity certificates.

The petitioners contended that many students from other states were allotted MBBS seats in Tamil Nadu based on nativity certificates obtained "fraudulently", adversely affecting their chances to get admitted in the courses.
During the course of hearing, it came to light that a total of 1,269 students had applied in two states, claiming nativity in both the states for admission to medical courses.
Subsequently, the court directed advocates representing the petitioners and the government to randomly verify the certificates.

The committee found that certificates submitted by 296 students admitted under the CBSE category were issued without any scrutiny.
Such certificates were issued online, before actual physical copies were issued, the committee informed the court.

The supporting documents filed for issuance of nativity certificates were vague and most of them did not denote the actual native place, the memo added.
Recording the submissions, Justice Kirubakaran directed the committee to file the findings in an affidavit.