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5. However, on 4th and 5th of May 2016, CET was conducted by the Karnataka Examination Authority for State Government quota seats in Government Colleges as well as Private Colleges for admission to both Medical as well as Dental seats in the state of Karnataka. However on 24.05.2016 the Union of India decided that the Government quota seats in Government and Private Medical and Dental seats would not be allotted on the basis of NEET for the academic year 2016-17 and in accordance with that decision amendments were made to the Dentists Act 1948 by introducing Section 10D after initially passing an order in that regard. As a result it enabled the students who had taken the CET to be admitted through the Karnataka Examination Authority for medical and dental courses respectively for the academic year 2016-17. Consequently the Karnataka Examination Authority conducting two rounds of counseling to fill up the Government quota seats in the Government Colleges and the Private Medical Colleges. In respect of the first petitioner - college also the students appeared for counseling and out of 18 seats in Government quota, 12 seats were taken and six vacancies remained. According to the petitioner as per the Consensual Agreement the six vacancies were made over to the first petitioner-college as being casual vacancies to be filled up by the management.

14. In this regard learned counsel for the respondents - university sought to defend its direction to discharge these students by contending that these students ought to have been accommodated or admitted not in the Government quota seats but in the COMED-K quota or in the management quota in which event they had to possess the NEET card and therefore they could not have been admitted by the First petitioner institution.

15. In order to consider the aforesaid rival contentions it would be useful to refer to the position of law as it existed in the academic year 2016-17. The Medical Council of India by amending the Regulations of Graduate Medical Education, 1997, issued a Gazette Notification of 21.12.2010 to the effect that the admissions to MBBS course shall based solely on the marks obtained in NEET. The said notification was challenged inter alia by Christian Medical College, Vellore, before the Hon'ble Supreme Court, which was allowed by decision dated 18.07.2013 reported as Christian Medical College, Vellore vs. Union of India, (2014)2 SCC 305. As a result, admissions of students to MBBS Course was no longer bad. Subsequently, review petitions were filed before the Hon'ble Supreme court of India and, by order dated 11.04.2016, the review petitions were allowed and the decision rendered on 18.07.2013 was recalled and it was directed that the matters be considered afresh. At this stage, it may be mentioned that the Medical Council of India published a notification in 2015 amending the Regulations of Graduate Medical Education, 1997, whereby a time schedule for completion of the admission process for first year MBBS course was prescribed. The said schedule was approved in Ashish Ranjan and Others vs. Union of India and Others, decided on 18.01.2016, reported in (2016)11 SCC 225. As per the schedule, the conduct of entrance examination was to take place between 1st and 7th May and the result of the entrance examination was to be declared by June. Further in Sankalp Charitable trust and Another Vs. Union of India and Others, reported in (2016)7 SCC 487, NEET - Phase I was to be held in terms of the notification dated 21.12.2010 issued by the Medical Council of India. The All India Pre-Medical Test to be held on 01.05.2016 and Phase-II of NEET for the left out candidates was to be held on 24.07.2016. By order dated 06.05.2016, passed in the case of Sankalp Charitable Trust vs. Union of India, it was clarified that no examination shall be permitted to be held for admission for MBBS students by any private college or association or any private/deemed university.

17. The reason as to why Parliament had to amend the Act was in order to take into consideration, the ground realities in respect of academic year 2016-17 in as much as although NEET has been introduced throughout the country nevertheless there were certain States which had already commenced the process of admission through their own Examination Authorities by having a Common Entrance Test in respective of the States. Thus, in the State of Karnataka the CET was held in May 2016 by issuance of the brochure as early as in January 2016.