Observing that any illegal act by anyone, much less an instrumentality of the state, cannot be tolerated, the High Court of Karnataka imposed an exemplary cost of Rs 5 lakh on the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) for allotment of MD Radio Diagnosis (MDRD) to a 'dummy candidate', which deprived an in-service eligible candidate the seat she deserved, The New Indian Express reported.
"KEA is an instrumentality of the state government. Candidates desirous of obtaining seats for undergraduate and postgraduate courses repose immense trust in the KEA. Therefore, KEA is bound to practice a fair and transparent method of allotment of seats. But, unfortunately, KEA has dealt with a postgraduate medical seat in this fashion," the court said, pointing out that the dummy allotment made in favour of one Nagaraj, who was not in the fray at all, forced the petitioner to accept whichever seat was available.
The division bench of Justice PS Dinesh Kumar and Justice TG Shivashankare Gowda pronounced the order on January 19, while allowing the petition filed by Dr Rajini CK, working at Primary Health Centre, Anegola in KR Pete taluk of Mandya district, questioning the allotment of MDRD seat to Dr Sunil Kumar HB, working at ESI Dispensary at Harihar in Davanagere, on October 20, 2023.
Court directs
Setting aside allotment of the seat, the court directed KEA to allot it to Dr Rajini and ordered the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) to issue necessary instructions to MR Medical College (MRMC), Kalaburagi, to admit her and permit her to attend classes. Additionally, it said that KEA shall ensure that the fee paid by the petitioner for MS-Obstetrics and Gynaecology is adjusted towards her seat in MDRD.
Of the cost of Rs 5 lakh imposed, a sum of Rs 2.50 lakh shall be payable to the petitioner, and the remaining sum shall be paid to the Karnataka State Legal Services Authority, the court ordered.
Seat matrix
The DME published a seat matrix for 315 seats, following the notification dated August 19, 2023, issued by the state government, fixing 20 per cent of seats in postgraduation for in-service candidates. The seat in MDRD at MRMC was reserved for an in-service candidate from the Health and Family Welfare Department, The New Indian Express reported.
The petitioner opted for MDRD at MRMC as her third option. She was offered a seat in MS-Obsterics and Gynaecology which she opted for, when she appeared for the second round of counselling on September 19, 2023. Later, she came to know that on October 20, 2023, the MDRD seat at MRMC was reserved for the health department, and Dr Sunil Kumar, working with the ESI department. The petitioner moved the high court, alleging that the petitioner was offered a seat in MS-Obstetrics and Gynaecology by deliberately blocking the seat she sought.
