The Supreme Court today ordered Universal College of Medical Sciences, Bhairahawa, and National Medical College, Birgunj, to enrol candidates recommended by the Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University, for post-graduate courses.

A single bench of Acting Chief Justice Gopal Parajuli issued a show cause notice and interim order against the defendants as demanded by the writ petitioners. The Supreme Court also asked the two colleges to charge the students  only the fees determined by the IoM.

Krishna Timilsina, Diwas Thapa, Abhasbabu Tiwari, Sumit Dhital, Sharmila Gurung, Bishal Acharya had jointly filed a writ petition against Universal College of Medical Sciences, Bhairahawa and TU.

Similarly, Nishant Kumar Thakur, Krishna Adhikari, Prem Bahadur Maharjan, Piyush Shrestha, Prashant Kandel and Shradha Phuyal had jointly filed a writ petition against National Medical College, Birgunj and TU.

The petitioners have claimed in their writ petitions that they passed the entrance exam and Open House Counseling conducted by IoM for academic year 073/074 and their names were published in the merit list on June 21.

Advocate Jyoti Baniya who pleaded on behalf of the petitioners in the SC told THT that his clients moved the SC after the two colleges refused to enrol them for PG courses. Baniya said the two colleges enrolled other students who had fewer marks (between 50 and 62) in the IoM’s entrance exam results, although the writ petitioners had scored 70 or higher marks.

Baniya said the two colleges enrolled other students because they offered 50 to 60 lakh rupees against the fee of Rs 30 lakhs fixed by the IoM.

Raju Basnet, finance controller, Universal College of Medical Sciences, Bhairahawa, however, said his college enrolled other students as per the contract signed between his college and the TU. He argued that the TU had introduced Open House Counseling this year and the notices that the TU published about the same was when his college had already enrolled other students. He said his college enrolled students the way it had been doing for last nine years.

Basnet also said that as per the contract between his college and the TU, his college was entitled to fix admission fee and notify about the fee structure to the concerned body which his college did in time. He said his college started PG courses from May 28, but the IoM published the Open House Counseling results only on June 21.

“If the SC tells us to cancel the enrolments of other students and enrol the writ petitioners, we are ready to do that, but 33 students who are studying in our college have also filed a writ petition at the SC demanding that their enrolment not be invalidated and this case is sub judice,” he said and added that his college had no problem accepting the fee structure fixed by the IoM, but that should apply only from the next academic session.

Basruddin Ansari, managing director, National Medical College, Birgunj said his college was ready to abide by the Supreme Court order.

“If the TU wants to change the contract, then we are ready to do so, but how can it impose a new rule without changing the contract?” he wondered. He said his college followed admission rules that it had been following for the last 16 years.

source:the himalayan times,29 june 2017