NMC's direction on fees of 50% seats in private medical colleges will not be applicable in Kerala

Kerala High Court has said that the NMC's direction about the fee of 50% seats in private medical colleges and Deemed Universities will not apply in the State of Kerala.

While observing that in Kerala there is no concept of Government Quota or Management Quota in private medical colleges and the fees of private medical colleges are fixed by a statutory body, the Admission and Fee Regulatory Committee (AFRC), Kerala High Court has held that the direction issued by the National Medical Commission (NMC) that the fee in 50% of seats in private medical colleges and Deemed Universities should be at par with the government medical colleges will not apply to the state.

The bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran also noted that the implementation of the stipulation in the NMC Office Memorandum(OM) in Kerala could lead to a situation of cross-subsidisation of seats, burdening one set of students to benefit other students, which has been proscribed by the Supreme Court. Having regard to the special circumstances of Kerala, the Court held that the enforcement of the NMC OM will lead to arbitrary and iniquitous results, as reported by Live Law.

The judgment observed as follows, "If the 'OM' is directed to be enforced in such manner, it will indubitably lead to a piquant predicament where the fees for the balance 50% seats in the said colleges will have to be escalated because, otherwise, the institutions cannot sustain, especially since, even as on today, the AFRC is fixing the minimum requisite fee for all students taking into account infrastructural investments, future prospects and such other criteria as are statutorily mandated, but ensuring that there is absolutely no leeway for profiteering in any manner."

"Ironically, viewed from the correct perspective, the implementation of the afore mandate of the 'OM' would be highly iniquitous in Kerala, because it expects the benefits of subsidisation to flow to the students in the 'Government quota', presumably under the often presumed impression that such students are more meritorious; but on our State there is no such quota and every student allotted to a Private Institution or Deemed University is 'on par' with those allotted to the Government Colleges and all such allotments are made by the Commissioner of Entrance Examinations alone. Hence it would also be an impossibility in our state to enforce the 'OM' to the aforementioned extent since all students in the Colleges and Deemed Universities are identically placed, it being even if possible - being arbitrary and discriminatory," added the judgement.

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