HC directs authorities to check records of 40 such candidates

Balwant Garg

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, September 29

As many as 40 students, who got admission in MBBS course in medical colleges in Punjab this month claiming to be bona fide residents of the state, are in the dock for having domicile of multiple states, including that of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has directed the Department of Medical Education and Research (DMER) to call the relevant records of all these students from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) and other departments concerned to check the domicile and bona fide residence of all these students.

Twentysix of these students were admitted in the first round of counselling and 14 got admission in the second round.

The High Court issued the orders after some students from Punjab challenged the admission of over 40 students in MBBS course in three government medical colleges in the state, alleging that the use of domicile of multiple states by these candidates doubled the chances of these students in getting admission in different states.

It is alleged that these students got admission in Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, claiming to be bona fide residents of those states. As a student cannot claim to be a bona fide resident of more than one state, it amounts to fraud, alleged the students in their writ petition in the High Court.

In its order, the court said the expiry of the last date for admission, September 30, would have no bearing on the reshuffling of the candidates, if any need arises during the checking of the domicile of the students.

With multiple domiciles, while many students from Haryana were able to get admission in Punjab, but the students from Punjab are at a disadvantage.

Criteria to define domicile varies from one state to another. While Punjab wants Class XII certificates, Haryana asks for other documents such as birth certificate.

Many students of Haryana took ‘dummy’ admissions in private schools in the inter-state border areas in Punjab to double their chances of them getting admission in both states, putting students from Punjab at a disadvantage for them being categorised as an out-of-state candidate in Haryana.