Overseas Indian Students Can Apply for Common Entrance Test Offline, Says Court

The Karnataka High Court has passed an interim order ordering the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) to allow a group of petitioners who are students holding Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cards to submit their applications for the Common Entrance Test (CET) 2018 offline.

The last date for submission of application is Feb. 26. CET is a competitive exam conducted for admission of students to medical, dental and engineering courses in professional colleges in various states of India.

According to Justice BV Nagarathna, as per the amendment to Section 7A of the Citizenship Act in 2005, OCI card holders are on the same level as Indian citizens. So, in instances of repugnancy, as per Article 254 of the Constitution, the Act passed by Parliament prevails.

In reference to Rule 5(1) of the Karnataka selection of candidates for admission to government seats in professional educational institutions rules 2006 limiting admission to citizens of India only, the judge told the additional advocate-general AS Ponnanna, “They, central government, are inviting people to come and study here. But you are doing this.”

The judge noted that in the previous CET era, there were students who were from Karnataka and also non-Karnataka quota seats, and the government encouraged students who were from outside the state to pursue higher education in the state.

However, the AAG submitted that in another case where OCI students were not allowed to participate in counselling for admission to MBBS/BDS courses although they had passed the NEET exam, a division bench of the high court had already ruled that OCIs are ineligible for government quota seats.

A brochure released by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) about the application process stipulated that students who had PIO card (Person of Indian Origin) and OCI cards (Overseas Citizen of India) were not permitted to take the test, Bangalore Mirror reported.

In CET 2017, these candidates were allowed to take part in counselling and were also also permitted to take seats in another private quota apart from 15 per cent seats that was blocked in the NRI quota.

“This has always been the case. If the student is a citizen of India, then he or she will be allowed to take up CET. We go by the rule book and the rule book says so. If any changes have to be made, then the government has to amend the rules. Till then, we have to stick to this,” a KEA official had earlier said, reported Bangalore Mirror.

Earlier this month, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare announced that Indian citizens or Overseas Citizen of India intending to obtain primary medical qualification from any medical institution outside India, on or after May 2018, shall have to mandatorily qualify the NEET for admission to MBBS course abroad.