Grant MBBS admission to student: HC
Legal Correspondent
Shimla, July 14
The HP High Court has taken serious note of the denial of admission to MBBS course to a meritorious candidate and directed the National Medical Commission, New Delhi, and Atal Medical and Research University, Mandi, to pay Rs 2 lakh each as compensation to the petitioner within four weeks on account of the loss of one full academic year. Besides, the court also imposed Rs 10,000 as cost on them.
The court directed them to grant the petitioner admission to the MBBS course in Jawaharlal Nehru Government Medical College, Chamba, for academic year 2023-2024. It directed both institutions to provide one more seat to the above medical college for the academic year.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice MS Ramachandra Rao and Justice Ajay Mohan Goel passed the order on a petition filed by Sanjana Thakur. The petitioner alleged that the admission granted to two students in Jawaharlal Nehru Government Medical College, Chamba, and the IGMC, Shimla, was cancelled on the ground that they had forged their NEET mark sheets and the documents submitted by them did not match the information available on the National Medical Council’s portal. Thus, two seats in the MBBS course were vacant in the IGMC, Shimla, and Jawaharlal Medical College, Chamba.
The petitioner contended that she was the next rank holder in the general category, so she should be allotted the vacant seat in Jawaharlal Nehru Government Medical College, Chamba. She said that she had made representations to the authorities concerned but to no avail.
The court observed that the petitioner was undoubtedly meritorious and was immediately next in the merit list of candidates prepared after the second round of counselling in 2022. She was entitled to admission on the general category MBBS seat available in Jawaharlal Nehru Government Medical College.
The court held that in the instant case, no fault was attributable to the petitioner and that she pursued her rights and legal remedies expeditiously and without delay.
