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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Minister Parameshwara says remarks on properties linked to drug peddlers 'misunderstood'
Tumakuru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Saturday said his recent remarks on the demolition of properties linked to those involved in narcotics trade were "misunderstood and misinterpreted".
His clarification follows remarks made two days ago on the government's uncompromising crackdown on the drug menace, including action against properties linked to foreign nationals allegedly involved in drug trafficking.
"It is unfortunate. It is taken in the wrong sense. I didn't mean that tomorrow itself I am going to send bulldozers and demolish the houses. That was not my intention. It was wrongly taken," he told reporters here.
Responding to Congress MLC K Abdul Jabbar's question in the legislative council on the growing drug menace in Bengaluru, Davangere and coastal districts, the minister on Thursday detailed the extensive enforcement measures initiated since the Congress government assumed office.
Pointing to the involvement of some foreign nationals, the minister had said, "Many foreign students from African countries have come to Karnataka. They are into the drug business. We catch them and register cases against them, but they want the case to be registered because once the case is registered, we cannot deport them."
"We have gone to the extent of demolishing the rented building where they stay," he had said.
