New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Kerala Private Medical College Managements Association to admit students to the 35 per cent seats reserved under the management quota in its colleges from the rank list prepared by the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations (CEE) on the basis of this year's Common Entrance Test (CET).

A Bench of Justice B. Sudershan Reddy and Justice S.S. Nijjar passed the order while declining to stay a Kerala High Court order declaring void and inoperative the entrance test conducted by the association on May 30 for admission to the management seats in 11 self-financing medical colleges in the State.

During resumed hearing on Monday, Justice Reddy told senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for the managements, that the single judge had passed a well-considered order. The Judge wondered whether the self-financing education sector had turned into a commercial sector.

Attorney General G.E. Vahanvati, appearing for Kerala, suggested that the managements first admit students on the basis of the State CET and if there were no sufficient number of students, then they could come back to the court. Justice Reddy said, “You try admitting students on State CET. Let us see how it proceeds.”

Mr. Salve said if there were seats still vacant the managements should be allowed to admit students from the test conducted by them. The Bench posted the special leave petition (SLP) for hearing after 10 days.

Assailing the High Court order, the SLP said the association comprised 11 medical colleges in the State. and was offering 1,100 seats in MBBS course. It had entered into an agreement with the government to give 50 per cent of its seats to be filled from the State CET. On the basis of the agreement, the managements of the colleges had agreed to collect Rs.25,000 and Rs.45,000 for the students admitted to the 50 per cent State quota The association said the writ petition before the High Court was set up by a rival group of medical colleges which had not entered into any agreement with the State government and was admitting their own students in 100 per cent seats.

The SLP said the High Court had jumped into a conclusion about the fairness of the entrance test conducted by the association. It said that at every point of time the association had intimated the Admission Supervisory Committee about the scheme of the test, and the place and the manner in which it was to be conducted. The delay in conducting the test was because of an inspection and approval granted by the Medical Council of India for the members in July, the SLP said and sought quashing of the impugned order and an interim stay of its operation.