Calcutta, Dec. 07, 2004
The Telegraph
The controversy over admission of medical students through the non-resident
Indian (NRI) quota took a fresh turn on Monday, with the Supreme Court
issuing a notice to state chief secretary Ashok Gupta.
The notice has been issued on a petition seeking initiation of contempt
proceedings against him for the alleged violation of the court order
directing the state government to limit to 30 the NRI quota in SSKM
Hospital and Midnapore Medical College.
A bench, comprising Justice Y.K. Sabharwal and Justice P.P. Naolekar,
issued the notice on a contempt petition after hearing counsel Sanjeeb
Sen and Mukul Rohodgi for the petitioners — a group of successful
candidates of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE), 2003.
When contacted on Monday evening, chief secretary Gupta said he had
not received the contempt notice.
The Supreme Court on October 29 had directed the state government to
cut down the number of NRI-quota students from 50 per cent to 15 per
cent of the total available seats.
The two medical colleges set up by the state government, with a total
of 200 seats, had admitted 104 students under the NRI quota and the
state had even put up a plea before the high court, justifying the high
fees charged on the grounds that it was to give some respite from the
financial crisis faced by the state.
The 104 students, screened from 1,300 through an entrance test, had
forked out Rs 9.24 lakh each for an MBBS seat under the NRI quota at
SSKM Hospital or Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.
On September 29, however, Calcutta High Court nullified the entire
process, instructing that the seats be allocated to successful JEE candidates
of that year.