New MBBS, BDS admission system
HC asks govt to explain legality
The High Court on Tuesday asked the government to explain in four weeks the legality of its decision to enrol students at medical and dental colleges based on their
grade point average scores in the Secondary School Certificate and Higher Secondary School Certificate examinations instead of admission tests.
The bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order after hearing a public interest litigation writ petition filed by Supreme
Court lawyer Md Eunus Ali Akand challenging the decision taken by the health ministry on Sunday.
The court, however, did not grant a prayer for an order to stay the operation of the decision until disposal of the writ petition.
The secretaries to the ministries of health and education, and the director general of the health directorate were asked to reply to the ruling in four weeks.
‘There will no legal bar to going ahead with admission process under the new system as the High Court has not stayed the government’s decision,’ attorney general
Mahbubey Alam told reporters after the court order.
Moving the writ petition, Eunus submitted that enrolling students at medical and dental colleges by holding tests had been in practice for 40 years, but the rights of
the admission seekers had been infringed by a sudden decision the respondents had taken on Sunday.
The 40-year system could not be repealed without due process of law, Eunus argued.
He submitted that as per the government decision the minimum requirement for admission seekers in the medical and dental colleges was a total of eight scores of the
HSC and SSC results but about one lakh students had a maximum 10 points each.
The lawyer also submitted that there were eight education boards and one madrasha board in the country and the question papers of
the HSC and SSC examinations were not the same.
It is difficult to ascertain by the HSC and SSC results who were truly competent candidates, he said.
There are about one lakh students who scored Grade Point Average -5 in the HSC 2011 and 2012 but in the country there are less than three thousand seats available for
admission in the medical and dental colleges each year, said the lawyer adding it would not be possible to pick competent candidates without admission tests.
The lawyer alleged that the respondents had made this decision for personal gains and not for the interest of the nation.
The attorney general opposed the petition saying it was not maintainable as it had been filed without a gazette notification of the government decision.
-With New Age input
