Back
Rules MBBS Students Limited to Four Attempts for First Year Exams
The has delivered a significant ruling clarifying that MBBS students are strictly limited to four attempts for the First Professional (First Year) examinations, regardless of how many subjects they appear for in each attempt. A of Justice Firdosh P. Pooniwalla and Justice R. I. Chagla dismissed a petition from a student who sought a fifth attempt in Anatomy, holding that she had already exhausted her permissible four attempts.
The Anatomy of a Legal Challenge
The petitioner, Aarya Avinash Patil, was admitted to the First Year MBBS course at in . She passed internal assessments in all subjects except Anatomy, where she fell short by two marks. This meant she could not appear for the Anatomy theory and practical examination in the first attempt (), though she took exams in Physiology and Biochemistry.
Over the next two years, she appeared for the Anatomy examination three times—, , and —passing the practical component each time but failing the theory paper. When she sought a fourth attempt in Anatomy, her college informed her that she was ineligible because she had already spent four years from admission and had effectively exhausted four attempts for the first year.
Four Attempts or Five? The Core Dispute
The petitioner argued that since she had only taken the Anatomy paper three times, she should be permitted a fourth attempt. She pointed out that
—which replaced the 1997 Regulations—omitted the earlier provision that
"
at any University examination shall be counted as an availed attempt."
This omission, she contended, meant her first attempt (where she could not sit for Anatomy) should not count.
The respondents—
, the
, and the college—countered that Regulation 21 categorically states:
"
, the student shall be allowed more than four (04) attempts for first year (First Professional MBBS)."
Since the petitioner had already taken four first-year exams (
,
,
, and
), she had no further attempt left.
Court's Interpretation: No Room for Extra Attempts
The High Court unequivocally rejected the petitioner's interpretation. The bench observed that Regulation 21 of the 2023 Regulations
"provides that the student shall not be allowed more than four attempts for the first year of MBBS and does not restrict the limit to attempts made in different subjects as is submitted by the Petitioner."
The court emphasized that the plain wording of the regulation refers to four attempts for the first year as a whole, irrespective of which subjects were attempted in each go.
The omission of the "
" clause from the 1997 Regulations was deemed irrelevant.
"The words used in Regulation 21 are totally clear and refer to four attempts for the first year, irrespective of the subjects that are attempted in any of these attempts, and the omission of the aforesaid words does not change that position,"
the court held.
The petitioner relied on the judgment in
Rajkumarsingh S/o. Dr. K. B. Singh Vs.
(
), where the court had held that examinations a student could not take due to detention or delayed results should not count as attempts. However, the High Court distinguished this case, noting that here the petitioner had actually appeared and taken the examinations.
"On the other hand, in the present case before us, the Petitioner actually appeared for the first year MBBS examination in Physiology and Biochemistry, and, therefore, that would definitely be counted as one of the four attempts,"
the court explained.
Final Verdict: Petition Dismissed
The court concluded that the petitioner had already availed four attempts for the first year MBBS and could not be granted another attempt in Anatomy. The was dismissed with no order as to costs.
The ruling reinforces the strict four-attempt cap for first-year MBBS examinations, leaving no flexibility for additional attempts regardless of subject-specific failures. Medical students and institutions must now carefully track the total number of first-year examination attempts, not just attempts in individual subjects.
