New Delhi: Providing relief to students, the Supreme Court regularised their Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) degrees secured from private dental colleges of Rajasthan after being admitted by granting relaxation in NEET percentile for the academic year 2016-17.
However, a bench of Justices J K Maheswari and Vijay Bishnoi imposed heavy penalties on erring private dental colleges and the state government for flouting norms.
The apex court also asked the students availing the benefits to give an undertaking before the high court that they will do pro-bono service in case of natural calamities or health emergency in Rajasthan for a maximum cumulative period of two years in their lifetime.
“In order to do complete justice in the peculiar facts and circumstances of this case, we deem it fit to invoke Article 142 of the Constitution of India in the instant matter. As a result, the admissions of the appellant/students who have passed the BDS course and received their degrees stand regularised,” it said.
The top court further said all students who are being benefitted by these directions shall file an undertaking with the Registrar (Judicial), Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, within eight weeks that whenever they are required to render their pro-bono services to Rajasthan during their lifetime in exceptional circumstances involving natural calamities, man-made disasters/accidents, health emergencies declared by competent authorities.
“It is made clear that if any appellant/student fails to file the aforesaid affidavit within the stipulated time, the Registrar (Judicial), Rajasthan High Court, Jodhpur, shall intimate this court through proper channel and the Registry of the Supreme Court shall place the said information before this court for further directions,” it said.
The top court added that these directions are issued only to save the efforts, time and resources of the students that have gone into achieving their BDS degrees and shall not be treated as a precedent.
“We are constrained to express our displeasure at the manner in which the standards of medical education have been undermined in the present case. The colleges committed blatant illegality and willful violation of the 2007 Regulations while admitting students beyond 10+5 percentile, thus warranting strict punitive action.
“Further, the state of Rajasthan also acted without any authority of law while granting relaxations and failed to timely inform the colleges of the decisions of the Central government and the DCI (Dental Council of India),” it said.
The bench further directed that the colleges will deposit a cost of Rs 10 crore each, and the Rajasthan government is directed to deposit a sum of Rs 10 lakh with the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority within a period of eight weeks from the date of pronouncement of this judgment.
It said that the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority shall invest the said fund in a short-term fixed deposit account, in a nationalized bank, with auto-renewal facility.
The top court said the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority shall utilize the amount of interest accrued on the said fixed-term deposit for the maintenance, upgradation and improvement of One Stop Centres, Nari Niketans, Old Age Homes as well as Child Care Institutions established by the Rajasthan government in the state.
“However, we direct the utilisation of the said amount only with the advice of a committee of the judges of the Rajasthan High Court to be constituted for the said purpose.
“In furtherance of the said objective, we request the Chief Justice of the Rajasthan High Court to constitute a Committee comprising five judges of the High Court, including at least one woman judge, in order to ensure the effective utilization of the interest amount accrued on the fixed deposit, for the purposes outlined hereinabove,” it said.
The top court noted that the students were enrolled in 11 private dental colleges which were part of the grouping called Federation of Private Medical and Dental Colleges of Rajasthan in 2016-17.
Referring to a 2016 verdict of the apex court, the bench said that admissions to MBBS and BDS courses in all government and private medical colleges are to be undertaken solely on the basis of NEET merit.
“Consequently, all admissions to medical institutions must strictly conform to the standards and regulations prescribed for the conduct of NEET, so as to safeguard the primacy of merit,” it said.
The bench added that the minimum qualifying percentile for admission to the BDS course is 50th percentile in NEET for candidates in the unreserved category, 40th percentile for SC/ST/OBC candidates and 45th percentile for candidates with locomotory disability of the lower limbs.
The top court said percentile can be reduced in accordance with the provisions provided in the 2007 Regulations, only when a sufficient number of candidates in the respective categories fail to secure the prescribed minimum cut-off marks for the concerned academic year and the power to undertake such a reduction in the qualifying percentile is only vested in the Central government, to be exercised in consultation with the DCI.
“It must be stated in no uncertain terms that such a power cannot be exercised by any other authority or the state government, as was done in the instant case,” it said.