Wednesday, Sep 01, 2010
Madurai: The Madras High Court Bench here on Tuesday ruled that the Medical Council of India (MCI) has no authority to interfere in issues relating to seat-sharing agreements between private medical colleges and State governments.

Disposing of a writ appeal filed by the MCI, a Division Bench of Justices D. Murugesan and M. Duraiswamy held that the power of the MCI was limited to the extent of initiating appropriate action if a private medical college admitted students beyond the sanctioned intake. The Council could not raise objections if the seats had not been filled as per the seat sharing agreements. It also “has no role to say as to whether such seat sharing could be made or not and if made, what should be the percentage of sharing, etc.,” the judges said.

The present writ appeal was filed against an order passed by a single judge on September 30 last. Allowing a writ petition by the Sree Mookambika Institute of Medical Sciences in Kanyakumari district, the judge had held that the MCI had absolutely no authority to interfere in admissions.

Counsel for the institute, Isaac Mohanlal, said that it was entitled to fill the entire annual intake of 100 students on its own. Yet, the institute preferred to enter into an agreement with the government to fill 50 per cent of seats with government sponsored candidates and the rest through management quota.

Accordingly, 50 students were admitted by the management in 2008-09. But, seven seats in the government quota remained vacant because students sponsored by the government did not approach the institute. After waiting till the last date of admissions, those seats too were filled by the management.

Taking exception to such filling of seats, the MCI passed an order on July 23, 2009 directing the institute to admit only 43 students in the management quota and allot 57 seats to the government quota during academic year 2009-10. Hence the writ petition and the consequent writ appeal.