Nursing college fraud: Karnataka HC orders it to pay Rs 10 lakh each to 10 students
Bengaluru, Jul 7: The High Court of Karnataka has ordered a nursing college in Kalaburagi to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh each to ten students whom it enrolled by fraud.
Mother Mary College of Nursing was found to have admitted the students after the last date of admission and inserted their names in the registration book and the attendance register.
The college had, however, claimed it could not upload the details of these students to the University due to a technical glitch.
The High Court said it cannot direct the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) to accept the fraud committed by the college. Since the students are now unable to attend the exams, it was for the college to compensate them, the court said.
"I am of the considered opinion that the losses which have been caused to the students would also have to be made good by the petitioner-College in monetary terms, though the same may not offer adequate succour to the said students," Justice Suraj Govindaraj said in his recent judgement.
Ordering the payment of Rs 10 lakh to each student, the HC said, "Petitioner No.1-College is directed to make payment of a sum of Rs.10,00,000 (Rupees ten lakhs only) each to the petitioner Nos.2 to 11 as compensation for the loss of one year which has been caused to them.".
The college and ten students had approached the HC by way of a writ petition. It was claimed that these students were admitted for the first year of BSc Nursing course in the academic year 2021-22.
The college failed to upload the details of these students on the University website before April 7, 2022. It claimed there were technical issues. Since the University did not allow these students to write exams, the petition was filed before the HC.
The University’s counsel submitted to the court that the names of these students were added to the Register in the college by pasting a paper on existing names. The names were added after the admission process was completed. If there was a technical issue, the details could have been e-mailed the same day or the following day, he argued.
The HC ordered that the original Admission Register be produced before it. On inspection of the same, it was found that the names of these students were "added by pasting a small piece of paper in line with the grid of columns and rows, as if to show that the name always existed in the Register." .
The Court also checked the attendance register and found that while the names of all other students were in alphabetic order, the names of these ten students were in a haphazard manner.
"A mere inspection of the said Register gives rise to a very shocking and sad state of affairs of the petitioner-College," the HC said, adding "The manner in which the petitioner-College has indulged in the aforesaid activities is shocking to say the least.".
Apart from imposing the compensation, the HC also directed that action be taken against the college by the University and the police.
"The action on the part of the petitioner-College would also require investigation by the appropriate authority including the police authorities to determine the fraud played and take necessary action including criminal action, if necessary, apart from other administrative action that the University would be permitted to take against the petitioner-College," the HC said.
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After arriving from Delhi, Shinde heads to his native village; Mahayuti meet likely on Sun
Mumbai(PTI): Outgoing Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who returned to Mumbai from New Delhi on Friday morning, is travelling to his native village in Satara district amid continuing suspense over his successor a week after the assembly poll results.
Shinde had told reporters in New Delhi on late Thursday night that the next meeting of the Mahayuti alliance on government formation will be held in Mumbai on Friday.
However, the caretaker CM, who heads the Shiv Sena, is travelling to his native village Dare in Satara district in western Maharashtra and the meeting is now expected to take place on Sunday, the sources said.
The Shiv Sena leader has repeatedly said he would not be an obstacle in the government formation and abide by the decisions taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the next chief minister.
Different viewpoints are emerging in the Shiv Sena over Shinde's place in the next government to be headed by the BJP, the biggest constituent in the Mahayuti, which posted a thumping win in the just-held assembly polls.
Many leaders in the Shiv Sena are asking Shinde to accept deputy CM's post if offered by the BJP. However, another section feels it wouldn't be right for him to accept No. 2 position after serving as CM for more than two-and-a-half years, the sources said.
"The government formation process will start after the BJP announces its legislature party leader," they said.
During his Delhi trip, Shinde had met Shah and discussed formation of the next government in the state. His deputies in the outgoing state cabinet Devendra Fadnavis (BJP) and Ajit Pawar (NCP) had also met the senior BJP leader.
Talking to reporters in the national capital, Shinde called the discussion “good and positive”.
Shinde, Fadnavis and Pawar had also met BJP president J P Nadda.
