SC Criticizes Madhya Pradesh HC’s Admission Order

The Supreme Court has recently criticized the Madhya Pradesh High Court for issuing an interim order that allows colleges in the state to participate in the admission process, a move similar to one previously stayed by the Supreme Court last year.

Justices BR Gavai and KV Vishwanathan remarked that this practice undermines judicial propriety.

The bench noted that despite a clear directive from the Supreme Court to stay the interim order for the 2023-24 academic year, the Madhya Pradesh High Court proceeded to issue a comparable order for the current academic year, 2024-25.

The justices stated, “We are of the view that the said practice is not in consonance with the judicial propriety. When an interim order for an earlier year was passed by this Court, the High Court ought to have given due weightage to it.”

Senior Counsel DS Naidu, representing the appellant, argued that the impugned order should be overturned, emphasizing that no students have been admitted for the 2024-25 academic year as a result of the High Court’s interim ruling.

Consequently, the Supreme Court quashed the order and allowed the appeal, remitting the matter back to the High Court for fresh consideration.

Previously on December 8, 2023, the Supreme Court had previously stayed a Madhya Pradesh High Court order from November 23, 2023, which permitted one college to provisionally participate in the ongoing counseling for admission to the BAMS degree course for the 2023-2024 academic year, specifically for 60 seats.

Despite several previous orders discouraging High Courts from allowing colleges to join the admission process through interim orders, the Madhya Pradesh High Court again made a similar ruling. The Supreme Court has scheduled the next hearing for this matter in the Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 14, 2024.

The Supreme Court clarified that the High Court must decide the petition based on its own merits, without being influenced by the present order.

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