CHENNAI: A middle-aged man's attempt to do a 'Munna Bhai' came unstuck when the Madras high court refused to ask Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University to admit him to the second year of the MBBS course 25 years after he first joined the course.
P Manikavasagam joined MBBS course in 1987-88, but he dropped out the same academic year. Five years later, in September 1993, the university permitted him to rejoin the course. Manikavasagam took eight years to complete the first year. Though he passed in 2001, he did not attend classes after November 2002.
Not one to give up, Manikavasagam in 2003 sought permission to rejoin the course. Condoning the break in study on the grounds of ill health and because his parents had met with an accident, the university allowed him to be readmitted in 2004. But the director of medical education took up the matter when Manikavasagam took another break in 2007.
The university pointed out that 20 years had already lapsed since he had been admitted to the course. Citing state MBBS regulation 17(a), which says a student cannot be considered for readmission if he incurs more than two breaks in the course, the officials refused to entertain Manikavasagam's application. He challenged the decision in court.
When the matter came up for hearing, university counsel Narmadha Sampath submitted that as per revised regulations, the MBBS course of five-and-a-half-year duration, including one year of internship, should be completed within no more than double the duration of the course period, or 11 years.
Allowing the submission, Justice Chandru said, "It is for academic bodies to consider a matter of this nature. The court cannot have any say in directing the university to act in a particular way. Ultimately, it is open to the university to decide the period within which a course has to be completed."
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