SC rejects common medical entry exam

In 2-1 verdict,top court says plan is unconstitutional

Rejecting the one-nation-one-test proposal of previous human resource development minister Kapil Sibal,the Supreme Court Thursday held the all-India common entrance test for medical admissions as illegal and unconstitutional,saying it interfered with the rights of private,minority and linguistic institutions to admit students.

In a 2-1 split verdict on the validity of the National Eligibility Entrance Test NEET,a bench led by Chief Justice Altamas Kabir said that the Medical Council of India and the Dental Council of India lacked legal authority to control admissions to MBBS,BDS and post-graduate courses. This view was shared by Justice Vikramjit Sen.

The right of the MCI and the DCI to prescribe such standards has been duly recognised by the courts. However,such right cannot be extended to controlling all admissions to the medical courses,being run by different medical institutions in the country. At best,a certain degree of control may be exercised in regard to aided institutions,where on account of the funds being provided by the government,it may have a say in the affairs of such institutions, the bench said as it quashed the four notifications issued by the MCI in 2010 and 2012 on NEET.

It said that neither the MCI Act nor the regulations had vested MCI with any authority to conduct examinations for NEET,thereby effectively taking away the right of medical colleges and institutions,including those run by religious and linguistic minorities,to make admissions on the basis of their own rules and procedures.

The power to frame regulations for the conduct of professional examinations is a far cry from actually holding the examinations and the two cannot be equated8230;we also have no hesitation in holding that the MCI is not empowered under the Act to actually conduct the NEET, it said.

The majority verdict said that the right to admit students in different educational and medical institutions was an integral part of the right to administer and it could not be interfered with except in cases of maladministration or lack of transparency.

Citing constitutional provisions and various precedents,the court said the right to administer an educational institution would essentially include the right to admit students and this right could not be taken away on the basis of notifications issued by the MCI and DCI,which had no authority to do so.

It held the policy to be ultra vires.

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The court also said that the desire to give due recognition to merit was laudable but the pragmatic realities have to also be kept in mind when policy decisions are taken in matters such as this.

In a single-window competition,the disparity in educational standards in different parts of the country cannot ensure a level playing field8230;the decision of the Central government to support a single entrance examination would perpetuate such divide in the name of giving credit to merit, it said.

However,authoring a dissenting judgment,Justice A R Dave held NEET to be not only legally and constitutionally valid but added it would prove to be a boon to students aspiring to join the medical profession.

If only one examination in the country is conducted and admissions are given on the basis of the result of the said examination,in my opinion,unscrupulous and money-minded businessmen operating in the field of education would be constrained to stop their corrupt practices and it would help a lot,not only to the deserving students but also to the nation in bringing down the level of corruption, he said.