HC drops contempt proceedings against 4 Pondy medical colleges

The Madras High Court has dropped contempt proceedings against four medical colleges affiliated to deemed universities in Puducherry and CENTAC while observing that the seats for PG medical courses in all these varsities were filled up before its June 16 order.
The court also observed that it can neither go behind its earlier order nor alter it.
The first bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar had recently dropped the proceedings against the colleges and (Centralised Admission Committee) CENTAC on the contempt plea by Advocate VBR Menon in connection with admissions to post graduate medical courses in the union territory.

The issue pertains to a PIL moved by the petitioner alleging that deemed universities in Puducherry were refusing to accept students admitted through common counselling in the state quota, and were demanding fees to the tune of Rs 40 to 50 lakh as against Rs 5.5 lakh fixed by the statutory fee committee for self financing colleges.
Earlier, the petitioner had alleged that the universities have failed to obey the interim order and sought initiation of contempt proceedings against the managements of the colleges concerned.
When the matter came up recently, the bench said, "It appears from the counter affidavits filed by the colleges affiliated to the contemnor universities that the seats in all the deemed universities were filled up before the date of interim order save and except one seat in Radiology and two seats in Orthopaedics and one seat in ENT."

"However in proceedings for contempt the scope of scrutiny by court is restricted... The court can neither go behind its earlier order nor alter or modify its earlier order," it observed.

"This court is only to see if there is wilful and deliberate violation of an order of the court which tarnished the majesty and or dignity of the court or its processes.
"Since there were no vacant seats as on the date of the order issued on June 16 except for four seats it cannot be said that the contemnor respondents have deliberately flouted any order of this court," it added.

The bench had passed an interim order on June 16 directing the universities to admit candidates provisionally selected for admission to PG medical courses through common counselling by taking Rs 10 lakh as fee.