Patna, July 23: The high court today directed two medical colleges to allow provisional admission to postgraduate courses under the state government quota for 2012.

The two institutions are Katihar Medical College and Hospital and Kishanganj-based Mata Gujrimal Medical College and Hospital.

The division bench comprising Justice Shiva Kirti Singh and Justice Vikash Jain passed the direction on a bunch of petitions filed by Dr Ranjit Kumar Singh and others challenging a single bench order holding the state government’s quota illegal.

Citing the Supreme Court’s P.A. Inamdar judgment, the single bench had on July 18, 2012, held that the state government could not have its quota in private unaided minority medical colleges.

The division bench, which stayed the single bench order, asked the two colleges to maintain a status quo regarding the students’ admission in 2011. The bench asked the Katihar and Kishnaganj magistrates to ensure compliance of its orders.

According to the rule, 50 per cent seats have to be filled up from the state quota and the rest from the management quota.

Senior advocate Rajendra Prasad Singh, appearing for about 50 aggrieved students, said Regulation 9 of Medical Council of India empowers the state government to have its quota even in non-government private minority institution.

The single bench said the government quota ceases to exist without considering the fact that the regulation was not even under challenge, Singh said, adding that the regulation would have been challenged in the first place.

Appearing for the state, additional advocate-general (1) Lalit Kishore and government counsel Prashant Pratap submitted that this was a settled preposition of law that unless and until regulation, which is still in operation, is set aside by the court, colleges are bound to take admissions under state quota.