Kathmandu, July 20

The Supreme Court today refused to issue a stay order as demanded by post-graduate students who had secured admission in two medical colleges without passing the open house counselling conducted by Institute of Medicine, Tribhuvan University.

Two writ petitions filed by 20 post-graduate students of National Medical College, Birgunj, and 33 students of Universal College of Medical Sciences, Bhairahawa, against Tribhuvan University and others were   heard in a division bench comprising justices Sharada Prasad Ghimire and Bishwambhar Shrestha.

The petitioners had argued that their admissions should not be invalidated. The SC has not prepared a full text of today’s order.

The petitioners had secured admissions in these two colleges before the publication of open house counselling results. Some of these students did not take part in the open house counselling and some did, but all of them secured admissions in medical colleges before IoM published the results.

IoM and Nepal Medical Council had issued notices, saying they would not register the names of these students as they did not qualify for post-graduate courses.

According to Advocate Jyoti Baniya, who is pleading on behalf of post-graduate aspirants who had passed both the entrance exam and open house counseling, IoM had recommended other students for enrolment in these two colleges, but the colleges refused to enrol them saying that they had already admitted other students.

The students who had been recommended by IoM had also filed cases at the SC seeking admission in these two colleges. Responding to the writ petitions filed by post-graduate course aspirants who had cleared both entrance exam and open house councelling, the SC had, on June 29, ordered Universal College of Medical Sciences, Bhairahawa, and National Medical College, Birgunj, to enrol candidates recommended by IoM.