Apex court clears way for common medical entrance test

NEW DELHI - The Supreme Court Monday permitted the Medical Council of India (MCI) to conduct a common test for undergraduate medical courses while it is yet to decide on pending cases against the council.

The court said the Medical Council did not need court approval for framing the rules and regulations for conducting examination for admissions to MBBS and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) courses across the country.

“Frame the rules and regulations, notify and implement them. If they are challenged, then the matter will come before us,” the court said.

The apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik passed these orders after it was told that the common test for undergraduate medical courses was not being held because the case was pending before the court.

The court order came in the wake of the Medical Council asking the court to give it a go-ahead for conducting the entrance test for undergraduate medical courses, including those in private colleges.

The court was told that the new rules and regulations have already been approved by the central government.

“No one can come to us with rules and regulations and seek our approval,” the court told the MCI.

The court was told that the common test for the medical courses was aimed at removing the multiplicity of entrance exams.

The MCI told the court that the present multiple entrance system was leading to irregularities and litigation.

When a counsel raised doubts about the proposed common entrance test, the court said: “That is an imaginary fear.”