Malpractices in VYAPAM, judges differ on penalties for doctors

Medicos had challenged two verdicts of the Madhya Pradesh high court in 2014. The court had dismissed their pleas against cancellation of their results in the entrance examinations conducted from 2008 to 2013 by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board (MPPEB), also known as ‘VYAPAM’.

The VYAPAM scam is also the subject matter of the Apex Court-mandated CBI probe.In its inquiry, the examination board had concluded that the exam process was “tampered with” and these 634 medicos were the beneficiaries of “manipulated examination process”.

Referring the divergent verdict to Chief Justice TS Thakur for “further orders”, Justice J Chelameswar said he favoured permitting students to complete studies and “compensate” society by serving in Army without any claim.

Justice Chelameswar, who wrote 57-page judgment out of 115 page verdict, dealt with various aspects of the VYAPAM examination process and the challenges to their cancellation by the Board.

“I would prefer to permit the appellants to complete their study of medicine and become trained doctors to serve the nation. 

But at the same time there is a compelling national interest that dishonest people cannot be made to believe that ‘time heals everything’ and the society would condone every misdeed if only they can manage to get away with their wrong doing for a considerably long period. Society must receive some compensation from wrongdoers,” he said.

Justice Chelameswar added: “Compensation need not be monetary and in the instant case it should not be. In my view, it would serve larger public interests by making the appellants serve the nation for a period of five years as and when they become qualified doctors, without any regular salary and attendant benefits of service under the State, nor any claim for absorption into the service of the State subject of course to the payment of some allowance (either in cash or kind) for their survival...”

Justice AM Sapre differed with Justice Chelameswar and upheld the HC verdict saying that there was “mass copying”.“The State may consider permitting the appellants and other candidates alike the appellants to appear in the competitive examination whenever it is held and consider granting age relaxation...Beyond this, in my view, the appellants are not entitled to claim any indulgence,” he said.

He did not agree with the plea that as there was “inordinate delay in taking the decision to cancel the examination”, the court should protect their interest on equitable considerations.

Justice Sapre also referred to various judgements and said that in the case at hand a large number of candidates are involved and once the examination is canceled, irrespective of ground on which it is canceled, then candidates whose results are cancelled have to repeat the examination whenever it is held.