SC sympathises with Medical Aspirant, but denies admission sans NEET

No relief for student who took admission without appearing in NEET

New Delhi: A student, whose admission in a Chhattisgarh medical college was cancelled on the ground of his non-appearance in the NEET, failed to get any relief from the Supreme Court which however sympathised with him for being a “victim” of maladministration by the state.

The apex court observed that though the “plight” of the student was “unfortunate”, “it cannot be helped” as the college and the state did not adhere to law and “turned a blind eye”, not only to the court orders, but also to notifications issued by the Medical Council of India (MCI).

While dismissing the plea filed by the student against cancellation of his admission, a bench of Justices M B Lokur and P C Pant said the college should not have conducted his counselling after the apex court order which had said that National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) was mandatory for admission in MBBS and BDS courses.

The bench rejected the plea of Rishabh Chaudhary, who had got admission in a medical college in the state after clearing the CGMAT-2016 exam conducted by the college, against the letter of Director of Medical Education for cancelling all admissions made by it in violation of apex court’s April 2016 orders.

“The college and the State of Chhattisgarh ought to have been aware of these facts, but seem to have turned a blind eye not only to the orders of this Court but to the notifications issued by the Medical Council of India,” the bench said.

The bench also sympathised with the petitioner and other students facing similar cancellation of admission, saying “the college and the state of Chhattisgarh have not adhered to the law with the result that the petitioner became a victim of circumstances giving him a cause of action to proceed against the College and the State of Chhattisgarh being a victim of their maladministration.”

“The plight of the petitioner is unfortunate but it cannot be helped. We were told during the course of submissions that some similarly placed students participated in NEET and qualified in the examination. Those students like the petitioner who did not participate in NEET and placed their trust only in the College and the State of Chhattisgarh took a gamble and that gamble has unfortunately not succeeded.

“While our sympathies may be with the petitioner and similarly placed students, we cannot go contrary to the orders passed by this Court from time to time only for their benefit,” the bench said.