In a big relief to 30 odd master of dental surgery (MDS) students of private colleges in Haryana, the Punjab and Haryana high court has directed a state university to award degrees to those who have successfully completed the course.
These students were admitted by private dental colleges for the academic session 2010-11 on the basis of counselling conducted on their own and they had not passed the requisite screening test as mandated by the Dental Council of India (DCI).
A single-judge bench in August 2014 had dismissed the petition of these students, leaving them in the lurch. In this petition, they had challenged a Government of India communication, whereby their admissions were termed illegal. SGT University, Gurgaon; Sudha Rustagi College of Dental Science and Research, Faridabad; JN Kapoor DAV Centenary Dental College, Yamuna Nagar; and other colleges affiliated to Pt BD Sharma University of Health Sciences, Rohtak, were asked to refund tuition fee and admission fee. Following this, the students filed an appeal in the division bench.
“The manner in which the private dental colleges have conducted themselves is somewhat improper but for that the appellants-students are not to suffer. Even otherwise, the grouse of the private dental colleges has been that there was inaction on the part of the state admissions committee and there was no clear policy or directions for admitting students who were qualified and seats were available,” the high court division bench of justice SS Saron and justice Amol Rattan Singh said, while allowing the petition of these students.
{{/usCountry}}“The manner in which the private dental colleges have conducted themselves is somewhat improper but for that the appellants-students are not to suffer. Even otherwise, the grouse of the private dental colleges has been that there was inaction on the part of the state admissions committee and there was no clear policy or directions for admitting students who were qualified and seats were available,” the high court division bench of justice SS Saron and justice Amol Rattan Singh said, while allowing the petition of these students.
{{/usCountry}}The high court bench noted that the private college conducted counselling in a hurried manner, which though may be “somewhat improper but cannot be said to be illegal or bad”.