Karnataka HC penalises BAMS colleges Rs 3 crore, allows eligible students to continue course
Karnataka High Court
Bengaluru: In a recent order, the Karnataka High Court allowed some petitioner students, who were found to be eligible for the Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) course, to complete their studies, subject to the deposit of Rs 3 crore by the colleges they are studying in favour of the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund.
These students were admitted by their respective colleges over and above the seats allotted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA). The HC Division Bench of Justice DK Singh and Justice Venkatesh Naik T passed the order while disposing of four petitions filed regarding the issue of admission of these students.
Among the list of guilty colleges, Shivamohha-based Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital admitted 20 students for the 1st year BAMS course for the academic year 2022-2023 and 27 students for the first-year BAMS course for the academic year 2023-2024, without undergoing the process of counselling conducted by the KEA.
Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based Achitha Ayurvedic Medical College filled up 39 seats on their own without the process of counselling and allotment of seats made by the KEA.
As per the latest media report by The New Indian Express, while considering these pleas, the court said that as a one-time measure, the students who are found to be eligible to take admissions should be permitted to complete their studies of the BAMS course.
Accordingly, it ordered the TMAE Society Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, Shivamogga, to pay Rs 75 lakh each for admission of 20 students in the 2022-2023 batch of the 1st-year BAMS course and 27 students in the 1st-year BAMS course of 2023-2024.
Further, the bench issued directions to Ramakrishna Medical Hospital and Research Centre, Yelahanka, Bengaluru, to pay Rs 75 lakh penalty for admitting 31 students independently during the 2022-2023 academic year. It also fined Rs 75 lakh to Achutha Ayurvedic Medical College, Bengaluru for admitting 39 students in the same period for 1-year BAMS course.
The court ordered that the petitioner colleges should deposit the amount of penalty in favour of the Armed Forces Battle Casualties Welfare Fund. Further, it clarified that the admissions of the eligible students would be subject to the said deposit made by the petitioner colleges and the proof of deposit should be submitted by the respective colleges before all three authorities- National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM), KEA and Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Health Sciences (RGUHS), including the registry of the court.
The petitioner colleges were directed by the court to furnish an undertaking on affidavit that in future, they would take only those students who would be sent through counselling to the colleges by the KEA, and they will not admit any other student who is not sent by the KEA through counselling, except foreign students.
Besides, in order to save the interest of the students admitted by the petitioner colleges over and above the allotment made by the KEA, the court directed the petitioner colleges to furnish the details of all the students admitted before the KEA for verification about the eligibility of the students admitted by them. It said that the KEA would examine the credentials of each student to find out whether such a student is eligible for admission or not.
