Manipur PMT fiasco : AG fails to produce SC verdict before Court
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, June 17 2013: Even as the State Cabinet recently cancelled the current year's PMT citing a Supreme Court's verdict issued on May 15, the State Advocate General could not produce a copy of the same when the matter was heard before the Manipur high Court today.

This came at a time when the Manipuri Students' Union (MSF) has intensified its stir demanding that the State produce and present the Supreme Court's verdict to settle the obscurities surrounding the issue.

The Cabinet, during a meeting recently had decided to scrap the PMT scheduled to be held on June 9 at different exam centres in Imphal and resolved to select MBBS and BDS nominees from the merit list of NEET-2013 conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) .

The decision of the Cabinet to scrap the PMT was ostensibly based on the ruling passed by the Supreme Court of India on May 15 this year.

Challenging the Cabinet decision, the All Manipur MBBS/BDS 2013 Entrance Examination Parents/Guardians Association filed a writ before the Manipur High Court.

Having heard both parties, the Court asked the State Government not to refund the amount collected for holding the current year PMT following the scrapping of the test, a statement of the association, said.

The State AG however could not produce a copy of the apex Court's vedict during the hearing and instead he presented a 2010 notification which stated that all colleges under the MCI should hold examinations under a common norm, said the association in a statement signed by its secretary K Arun Meitei.

Manipur Health Services collected Rs 40 lakhs as entrance fee from 5756 candidates who took forms to appear for the PMT and a total amount of Rs 23 lakhs was spent in preparing for the entrance test.

In its interim verdict passed on May 15 this year, the Supreme Court that heard different cases on the matter, asked institutions to publish results of entrance tests which were put on hold by the same Court's ruling on December 13 last year, sources said.

The final decision on validity of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS/BDS and post graduate courses would be delivered in July first week, maintained the SC.

The apex Court had said that it was not touching the matter where the examination has not been held, a point which legal experts have interpreted as amounting to saying that respective State Governments can hold the PMT before the final verdict is delivered, the sources added.

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