Can NMC board cancel MBBS, PG Medical Student Admission? Rajasthan High Court to decide

Jaipur: The Rajasthan High Court is all set to consider the question if the Medical Assessment and Rating Board (MARB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) has the authority to cancel admission of students in various undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses.

Such a crucial question came up for consideration before the HC bench comprising of Justice Vijay Bishnoi when several medical colleges approached the Court and challenged the recommendations made by MARB of NMC for withdrawal of letter of permission, and cancellation of admission in the UG and PG courses for the academic year 2021-2022 via letters dated 14.04.2022 and 18.04.2022.

Offering interim relief to the petitioner institutes and students, the HC bench has mentioned in the order dated 28.04.2022, "In the meantime, admissions already granted to the students in various under-graduate or post-graduate courses in the petitioner–institutions for the session 2021-22 shall not be cancelled and the students already admitted shall be allowed to pursue their studies in the respective petitioner–institutions till the next date."

The matter has been listed for further hearing on May 11, 2022.

Also Read: Institutes with necessary infrastructure should be encouraged to set up Ayurvedic Medical Colleges, opines Delhi HC

While some of the petitioners in this case are the institutions, where admissions were granted to the students for the academic year 2021-22 in the under-graduate as well as postgraduate courses, the other petitioners are students, who have been admitted in these courses.

The counsel for the petitioners argued before the HC bench that the impugned order passed by the MARB is in excess of its jurisdiction. The petitioners argued that as per Section 26 of the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, the MARB can recommend for imposition of monetary penalty, reducing intake or stoppage of admissions and recommending to the Commission for withdrawal of recognition against the medical institution but cannot recommend for cancellation of admission of the students in various courses. Therefore, the impugned orders dated 14.04.2022 and 18.04.2022 are absolutely illegal, argued the counsel for the institutes and the students.

On the other hand, the counsel appearing for the NMC and MARB submitted that he has received the copy of the writ petitions recently and therefore he prayed for some time to reply to the writ petitions.

Further, the counsel for NMC and MARB argued that there is no illegality in the recommendation made by the MARB vide orders dated 14.04.2022 and 18.04.2022 in respect of the petitioner–institutions. He also submitted that the MARB is very well in its jurisdiction for recommending cancellation of admission of the students in the various courses.

Meanwhile, Mr. Manish Vyas, learned AAG accepted notice on behalf of DME Rajasthan, Mr. Mukesh Rajpurohit, and Mr. Mahendra Bishnoi accepted notice on behalf of Rajasthan University of Health Science, Jaipur.

Listing the matter for further hearing on May 11, 2022, the offered interim relief to the students and noted, "In the meantime, admissions already granted to the students in various under-graduate or post-graduate courses in the petitioner–institutions for the session 2021-22 shall not be cancelled and the students already admitted shall be allowed to pursue their studies in the respective petitioner–institutions till the next date."

To read the HC order, click on the link below.

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/rajasthan-hc-order-175504.pdf

Also Read: NMC officials facing CBI probe on allegations of giving approvals to medical colleges for cash: Report