The Madras High Court on Tuesday directed the Dean of the Government Medical College in Theni to report to the court about the manner in which a MBBS student, now under suspension after being accused of gaining admission through impersonation in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), could be relieved from the college.
Justice N. Anand Venkatesh wanted the Dean to take into consideration the student’s willingness to pay ₹10 lakh towards the discontinuation fees, as per the 2019 admission norms, and inform the court whether he could be issued with a transfer certificate. The judge wanted the information to be provided by December 21.
Criminal case
The interim directions were issued on a writ petition filed by the student against the refusal of the Dean to issue the transfer certificate since he was facing a criminal case under investigation by the Crime Branch-Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID). He had also been arrested and released on bail thereafter.
A Special Government Pleader told the court that the student had undergone the MBBS course last year for just one month and 10 days before being suspended due to the criminal case.
However, the student’s counsel argued that his client could not be prevented from pursuing his education until the completion of the investigation.
He said the transfer certificate was essential for the student to gain admission in other educational institutions and it was not proper on the part of the authorities to deny that to him.