The Gujarat High Court has heavily criticized the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad, for revoking the admission of a highly qualified candidate solely due to the absence of a certificate in a specific format from her previous institution.
The court asserted that NID did not have the jurisdiction or power to impose conditions on the format of the certificate issued by the applicant's current institution. It further emphasized that although the applicant could have presented a certificate indicating the anticipated results declaration date, NID could not enforce the University of Delhi to issue a certificate with a specific date.
Brief Facts:
The applicant, Tvisha Hitesh Garg, had applied for admission to the Master of Design course at NID. After completing the examination process and securing the 5th rank in the general category, she received an email from NID stating that the requirement for a provisional degree certificate had been relaxed. Instead, candidates were asked to submit a self-undertaking and a letter on their university's official letterhead confirming their appearance for the final qualifying examination without any backlogs.
The University of Delhi, where the applicant was enrolled, provided a certificate to NID as per the required format, except for the mention that the final year examination results would be declared by June 30. However, NID canceled the applicant's admission because the certificate did not adhere to its specified format. Despite Delhi University subsequently issuing the certificate in the correct format, NID did not reconsider its decision. Consequently, the applicant sought legal recourse by approaching the court to challenge the cancellation of her admission.
Observations of the Court:
Justice Nikhil S Kariel criticized NID for their authoritative and arbitrary actions, highlighting that the Admission Handbook for 2023-24 did not mandate candidates to submit a certificate from their current institution. The court noted that NID had already waived the requirement of a provisional degree certificate, as communicated through an email to the candidates.
The court stated that while the candidate could have provided a certificate stating that the examination results would be declared by a specific date, the respondent institution (NID) could not demand a certificate from the other institution (respondent no.2) specifying the result declaration date. The court issued a notice for the final disposal of the case to the respondents and instructed that the seat, which could be assigned to the petitioner, remain vacant until the returnable date.
The decision of the Court:
Case Title: TVISHA HITESH GARG, D/O HITESH GARG vs THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DESIGN
Coram: Hon’ble Justice Nikhil S. Kariel
Case no.: R/SPECIAL CIVIL APPLICATION NO. 10082 of 2023
Advocate for the Petitioner: TANAYA G SHAH
Advocate for the Respondent: -
Read Judgment @LatestLaws.com
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