Ritika
New Delhi. A 21-year-old medical student at Puducherry’s prestigious Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (GIPMER) has found himself in a legal tussle over his domicile claim and the demand for proper adherence to admission norms has intensified after the matter came to the fore. Nazih Khalid had scored 99.30 percentile in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) last year and got admission in JIPMER under the domicile quota, but his admission was challenged by another medical student, 18-year-old Saminathan S.
Saminathan alleged that Khalid had claimed domicile in Puducherry as well as Kerala and had approached the Madras High Court in November last year to cancel Khalid’s admission. As per the admission criteria, a student cannot claim domicile in more than one state in one academic year while applying for admission to a medical college. An organization standing up for the cause of students from the Union Territory of Puducherry has claimed that many students take advantage of different domicile norms in different states and “get the best opportunities” in multiple states. apply for admission.
M Narayanasamy, president of Puducherry UT All Centac Students’ Parents Association, said, “The problem of claiming dual domicile is quite common in many states, especially in the border areas. Students should know that this can affect their careers.” Saminathan has got admission in Karaikal campus of JIPMER. The Puducherry campus of JIPMER is considered better. He has requested the court to cancel Khalid’s admission as he has misled the authorities by filing a false affidavit.
Saminathan has requested to cancel Khalid’s admission and transfer him to the Puducherry campus. The High Court has issued notice to the Director of Medical Education (DME), Puducherry, Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Khalid and other concerned parties in this matter. Khalid maintains that he has done nothing wrong, but the report submitted by the DME confirms that he had claimed native place in Kerala in the 2022-23 academic session as well. The High Court then asked the DME of Puducherry to give its opinion.
During the hearing on January 24, 2023, the DME had said that the seats of both the students should be interchanged. Expressing displeasure over this, the court had asked the counsel appearing for the DME to file an affidavit. The DME, in an affidavit filed on February 6, told the court that the Union health ministry has the jurisdiction to act in the matter and it has been informed about the matter. The court has reserved its order in this matter.
