Plea Challenges 15 percent Decrease in pre-matric scholarships, MP HC relief to 23 MBBS students

Indore: While considering a plea challenging a 15% decrease in pre-matric scholarships for OBC medical college students, the Indore bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court granted relief to 23 MBBS students by allowing them to appear in the examination without payment of the deficit college fees.

Issuing the interim directions the HC bench comprising Justice GS Ahluwalia clarified that the petitioners shall be allowed to appear in the exam without paying the deficit fee subject to the outcome of the plea.

Apart from this, the bench has also issued notices to the State Government, the MP Private University Regulatory Commission and Sri Aurobindo Medical College and PG Institute.

The plea was filed by 23 MBBS students through their counsel Arun Singh Chouhan. He submitted that the petitioners were granted 100% scholarship under the Post-matric Scholarship Scheme of MBBS students belonging to OBC category whose family income is less than Rs 3 lakh per annum.

As per this scheme, the Department of Backward Classes and Minorities Welfare was expected to credit the scholarship to the bank accounts of the concerned students and pay the fees of the college.

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The counsel for the petitioners informed the bench that the department deposited the full amount of fees in the account of the students from the year 2018-2021 and the fees were divided into tuition fees and Development fees with effect from 2019-2020.

He alleged that later MP Private University Regulatory Commission arbitrarily declared that out of the total fees of the college, 85% will be the tuition fees and rest 15% will be the Development fees. Further, he informed that the State Government decreased the scholarship to the extent of the tuition fees and that too retrospectively. The students were not given any opportunity of hearing, adds the Times of India.

At this outset, he also submitted that the students had to sign a bond saying that they would pay Rs 10 lakh if they left the college in between the session. 

Accepting the argument, the court granted interim relief to the students and issued directions to list the matter for further hearing in the third week of January 2024 along with other identical matters for confirmation of stay.

"As an interim measure, it is directed that till the next date of hearing, the petitioners shall be permitted to sit in the examination without payment of the deficit college fee subject to final outcome of this petition," observed the HC bench.

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