The Karnataka high court on Friday directed the ComedK to hold fresh counselling for P-G dental courses.
Dentist Dr Riya Mariam Raju and fellow dentists had filed a petition in the court, saying the ComedK (Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges – Karnataka) barred them from attending counselling on the ground that they had not brought demand drafts from nationalized banks and a few had not brought the original counterfoil.
Admitting the petition, Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri said, “The system owes a duty to honour preferences of meritorious students. Even the apex court had, in umpteen judgments, said admissions should be merit-based.”
Stating that the petitioners figured in the top 600 ranks, the judge said banks’ failure to affix seals or signatures on the counterfoils cannot be held against the students. He further said the advocates who appeared before the court could not say whether Karur Vysya Bank was nationalized. So the students cannot be faulted for not recognizing banks – nationalized or not.
Authorities were unaware that Bank of Maharashtra was nationalized. One of the candidates had split the fee into six DDs: five from Vijaya Bank and one from Karnataka Bank.
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