The Delhi HC in, DR. MACHAT BALAKRISHNAN MENON v. MEDICAL COUNCIL COMMITTEE & ORS., issued certain guidelines for the smooth functioning of pose admission process in Medical PG exam, in the wake of a petition filed by an aggrieved student who sought admission in college despite filling under the wrong quota. The Court rejected the petitioner’s plea but also stated that the situation could have been avoided had there been proper checks in place at different levels of counseling.
Facts
The Petitioner, a doctor from Kerela University of Health studies, filed a petition to preserve his admission at the Maulana Azad Medical College(MAMC). He holds an EWS certificate and appeared for the NEET exam in January under All India Quota, Central Inst. Quota and the Delhi University(DU) Quota. He was allotted a college in the first round but did not take admission to the college. Again in the second round, he did not get any allotment but in the mop-up round, he was allotted MD in MAMC. He took admission but later admission was canceled because he wrongfully submitted to DU quota. Despite appealing to authorities he did not receive any action and thus approached the court.
Petitioner’s Arguments
The petitioner contended that the mistake was bona fide and there was no intention to mislead. He further states that the Medical Counseling Committee(MCC) was aware of college from where he passed. He further stated that he also got admission to SMC, Kerala under state quota in a mop-up round however he did not take admission in the same and the due date was passed. The Petitioner thus submitted that the authorities owe a duty to the candidates to verify the information so that confusion is not created in the minds of candidates who are applying for counseling. Further, the Petitioner had obtained a seat in MAMC in a bona fide manner and, in any event, a student from DU with a lesser rank would be able to take his seat. He finally pleaded that the petitioner must not be deprived of the seat.
Respondent’s Arguments
The Respondents claimed that the petitioner was well aware that students who completed MBBS from DU were eligible for DU Quota. It was further submitted that upon seeing the documents of the Petitioner, when MAMC realized that the Petitioner had completed his M.B.B.S. from Kerala, he was immediately informed that his admission cannot be confirmed.
Court’s Order
The Court observed that there is a responsibility on the candidates as also the authorities to ensure that the candidates who apply for the quota are eligible before allotments are made. The Court ruled that “The Court while being empathetic with the position in which the Petitioner currently finds himself, however, cannot direct confirmation of his admission in MAMC under the Delhi University Quota. Accordingly, the relief sought for, for confirming the Petitioner’s admission in MD (Pathology) in MAMC cannot be granted”. The Court further directed the state of Kerela to allot any unfilled seat to the Petitioner in a post-graduate medical course owing to the predicament of the petitioner and also the fact that the deadline of the counseling of the same was postponed.
Guidelines Issued
The Court was of the opinion that such a situation could have been avoided had there been proper checks in place at different levels of counseling. The Court thus issued the following guidelines:-
- At the time of registration for counseling, there shall be a specific field in which candidates would be required to fill up with details of the college and the University from where they have completed their M.B.B.S. course.
- Upon the said field being incorporated, the system should be designed in such a manner that only those quotas for which the candidates are eligible would be made available to the candidates. For example, if the candidate has completed the M.B.B.S. course from Kerala and the name of the college is filed up along with the name of the University, the Delhi University quota should not be made available to such a candidate. This would ensure that the complexity created due to the presence of various quotas in counseling is eliminated. This would also ensure that candidates are not put through grueling circumstances in the course of the counseling, which takes place over a period of three to four months every year
- After registration, prior to the allotment of seats, the data submitted by candidates shall be cross-verified with the data available with MCC so those wrong allotments are not made.
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