Bombay HC grants (interim) stay on #NEET Govt Resolution on centralised counselling

The Bombay High Court’s SS Kemkar and MS Karnik JJ. granted interim relief to three deemed universities challenging a Government Resolution (GR) that mandated NEET admissions through the State counselling process..Issued on August 20 this year, the GR had made it mandatory for all deemed medical universities and dental colleges to admit students on the basis of the State organised “Combined Counselling/Centralised Admission Process”. The GR itself was based on a letter written by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare dated August 9, 2016..Appearing for the petitioners, namely Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, DY Patil College, Pune and Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, senior counsel Anil Anturkar had argued that the state government is infringing upon their rights. .Anturkar submitted that the deemed universities had been allowed to admit students via the University Grants Commission (the Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulation of 2016. Furthermore, vide a notification issued by the Medical Council of India in August this year, deemed universities were to authorised to admit students as per a specified time schedule. .In essence then, the deemed universities contended that the power to admit students lay with the individual universities. In fact, individual counselling sessions has already been initiated in several institutes..Appearing for the State of Maharashtra, acting Advocate General Rohit Deo argued that not only was the State government empowered to pass the GR, but that a centralised admissions process would benefit students since they would not have to fill in multiple admission forms. .Interestingly enough, four days earlier, the Kerala High Court had been seized of a similar matter, and held that the deemed universities had the right to conduct their own admissions. .A day after reserving orders, and relying on the Kerala High Court decision, the Bombay High Court held that,.“In our prima facie view, the state government cannot transgress the powers of deemed universities by issuing a government resolution……..However, it is made clear that …. the Petitioners shall admit the students strictly on the basis of ranking of the candidates in the list of NEET on the basis of inter se merit amongst the students who have applied to the Petitioner’s institution.” .The matter will now be listed after four weeks for final hearing..(Read the order below)