The Supreme Court is scheduled to pass its judgment over the admission procedure in deemed universities in Maharashtra today, on September 27, 2016. The order regarding the case, State of Maharashtra & ORS. Vs. D.Y. Patil Education Society & ORS, was earlier scheduled for September 19. However, the apex court had delayed its judgment till now and is expected to pass the order today, keeping in mind the deadline for closure of medical admissions set by the SC to September 30, 2016. Quite a few deemed universities in Maharashtra have already filled up their MBBS/BDS seats for the year, based on the Bombay High Court order passed on August 31, 2016, which allowed the universities to conduct their own counselling procedure.

The medical aspirants and their parents were in a fix when the order of the Bombay High Court got challenged in the apex court by the State of Maharashtra. One such medical aspirant Keshaav Krishnan, who took admission in one of the deemed university medical institutes in Tamil Nadu, stated that he is hoping for the apex court to give a decision in favour of common counselling. “Even though my classes are scheduled to begin from October 3, 2016, I am of the view that the centralized counselling should take place. I will be able to get a seat through common counselling at lower fees, bypassing the capitation fees charged by deemed university institutes in Tamil Nadu.”

Quite contrary to the statement of Keshav, Karan Singh Chabra, another medical aspirant from Mumbai shared a different view. “I really wish the SC would not cancel the already done admissions as students are reaching colleges, got their hostel rooms and attending orientation classes in some of the colleges, for a week now. It would be wrong if these students will have to undergo re-counselling”, said Karan.

Karan seemed worried about the amount of delay caused if the apex court orders a re-counselling for the deemed university colleges. He said, “First year MBBS is one of the most crucial years in the course and generally, students get around 10-months for studies. It seems, we are going to get somewhere between 6 to 7 months this year for the first year MBBS examination. It is worrying.”

Another medical aspirant, who didn’t wish to be named, said that due to allowing other state candidates in the medical admission by the deemed university colleges, they were left behind in admission procedure due to the individual counselling conducted by the colleges. “I wish the court orders for a central counselling, so that we get a fair chance to apply to theses colleges.” He was also disappointed about the registration fees charged by each of the deemed university institutes for application. “I had to pay Rs. 25 thousand for the five deemed university institutes that I applied for in the state,” said the medical aspirant.

“It’s a bit daunting with new orders every day, but these are the orders we need to abide by. It might be a little difficult to get the deposited fees and original certificates from the university we have taken admission in, but I hope it is for the best,” concluded Keshaav.