HC permits DME to hold counselling for 16 PG med courses

Chennai, Jun 10 (UNI) Madras High Court has permitted the Director of Medical Education (DME) in the state to hold counselling for 16 Post Graduate (PG) Medical Specialty courses.

Modifying its earlier stay order for counselling, Mr Justice K Venkataraman, yesterday, however, said the 21 writ petitioners, who had challenged Clause 54 (B) of the current year prospects shall also be eligible to participate in the counselling.

The clause envisages reservation of the entire 50 per cent of seats in these 16 Specialties for Government Service candidates.

The remaining would go to the All India quota. As per this clause, the non-clinical specialties, which could not be available for non-service candidates, include Pathology, Bio-Chemistry and Forensic Medicine.

The Clinical Specialties are entirely reserved for service candidates, include Radiology and Anesthesia.

The batch of writ petitions stated that reserving all the available seats in the specialties for service candidates would deprive other qualified medical graduates from specializing these disciplines.

''The DME had no power to reserve the entire seats in certain courses exclusively for service candidates,'' the petitioners submitted.

As the counselling was to be held yesterday, the DME filed an emergent petition in the court and got the stay vacated.

Reacting to the court order to allow only the 21 petitioners to participate in the counselling, more than 500 non-service doctors, who gathered at the DME office complex ransacked the office. Police used force to disperse them.

UNI XR ROY SY ND1238