Kerala High Court: The Bench of Hrishikesh Roy, CJ and A.K. Jayasankaran Nambiar, J. dismissed a writ appeal filed against the order rejecting to consider a students internship undertaken before the completion of his course for the purposes of awarding him a degree.
Appellant herein who was a student of the respondent University was notified that internship certificate could be issued to him only after successful completion of his Pharm. D course and the internship he had undertaken before final success in the D. Pharm course was of no consequence. He filed a writ petition assailing the said decision of University. However, the learned Single Judge held that internship undertaken by petitioner prior to passing final examination of the D. Pharm degree course could not be utilised for the purposes of reckoning the 12 months so as to make him eligible, for the award of the Degree of the Pharm. D Course. Hence, the present appeal.
The Court referred to the Kerala University of Health and Allied Sciences (KUHAS) Regulations and Syllabus for 6 years Pharm. D Course, which clearly mandated that a student has to undergo rotational internship to the satisfaction of the College and the University, for a period of twelve months only after passing the final Pharm D. examination, and only then he is eligible for the award of the Degree. It was opined that the said stipulation in the Regulations was a statutory enactment framed by the Pharmacy Council of India in the exercise of powers under Section 10 of the Pharmacy Act, 1948.
Reliance was placed on Rishabh Choudhary v. Union of India, (2017) 3 SCC 652 where it was opined that “the question before this Court is not who is to be blamed for the present state of affairs – whether it is the students or the College or the State of Chhattisgarh. The question is really whether the rule of law should prevail or not. In our opinion, the answer is unambiguously in the affirmative. The College and the State of Chhattisgarh have not adhered to the law with the result that the petitioner became a victim of circumstances giving him a cause of action to proceed against the College and the State of Chhattisgarh being a victim of their maladministration. The plight of the petitioner is unfortunate but it cannot be helped.”
Thus, it was held that there was no infirmity in the impugned Judgment. [Sarath S.M. v. Kerala University of Health and Sciences, 2019 SCC OnLine Ker 1032, decided on 21-03-2019]