Bengaluru: The Karnataka high court Tuesday ordered Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) to scrap the PG medicine seats allotted in the mop-up round to “ineligible” candidates and make them available in the next round of counselling.
National Medical Commission (NMC) and Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) should permit the candidates who were allotted all-India quota seats in the MCC-conducted third round counselling to join the allotted seats till 5pm, Feb 9, a division bench comprising Justices Anu Sivaraman and Vijayakumar A Patil said in its order on a petition filed by Dr Akshay V Thuppad and others, who were aspirants in the mop-up round conducted by the KEA.
The KEA was directed not to enforce the penalty clause against the students who were wrongly permitted to participate in the mop-up round in violation of the conditions stipulated it its brochure. The KEA was told to ensure the original documents are returned to the candidates to enable them to join the all-India quota seats at the earliest.
The petitioners — and similarly situated candidates who were eligible to participate in the mop-up round — should be permitted to participate in the stray vacancy round where the seats that fall vacant should be made available and seats should be allotted to them on the basis of merit, the bench said.
The KEA was directed to take steps to ensure fees — paid by ineligible candidates who had joined the allotted colleges pursuant to the mop-up round — are refunded to them at the earliest.
The MCC and KEA were told to inform the candidates who had been allotted seats in the third round of all-India quota counselling but were permitted to participate in the counselling of the KEA without eligibility that they have to join the all-India quota seats allotted to them, failing which they will not be entitled to any seat in the KEA also.
As the time for joining the allotted all-India quota seats has been extended till Feb 9, the candidates shall be intimated by e-mail and through intimation on the official website or through SMS so that they are enabled to take appropriate steps, the bench said.
The petitioners had contended that, according to the eligibility conditions provided in the KEA brochure, it was categorically said those who have been allotted all-India quota PG medical seats in the first, second and third rounds are ineligible to participate in the mop-up round of the KEA counselling. Yet, in the KEA mop-up round conducted in the December-January period, persons who were ineligible were allotted seats, they had said.
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