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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
AJAY RASTOGI, C.T. RAVIKUMAR, JJ.
Board of Governors in Supersession of Medical Council of India - Appellant
Versus
Priyambada Sharma & Others - Respondents
Civil Appeal No. 7533 of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) Nos.3507-3508 of 2020) with Civil Appeal No. 7534 of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.24800 of 2019), Civil Appeal No.... of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.24021 of 2019), Civil Appeal No.... of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.24023 of 2019), Civil Appeal No.... of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.24020 of 2019), Civil Appeal No.... of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.27463 of 2019), Civil Appeal No.... of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.26970 of 2019), Civil Appeal No.... of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.7077 of 2021), Civil Appeal No.... of 2022 (Arising out of SLP(C) No.7111 of 2021)
Decided On : 17-10-2022
Medical Council of India - Admission to Post-Graduate Medical Courses - Regulations 2000 - NEET examination - Admission schedule - Strict adherence to time schedule - No sympathy for admissions beyond cut-off date
Fact of the Case:
The Medical Council of India appealed against the High Court's judgment directing the West Bengal University of Health Sciences to admit students in post-graduate medical courses beyond the cut-off date. The students had participated in NEET (PG) 2019 seeking admission in State quota seats in West Bengal. The High Court granted provisional admission to the students beyond the cut-off date, which was later regularized by the court.
Finding of the Court:
The Court found that the High Court's orders granting provisional admissions beyond the cut-off date were not legally sustainable. It emphasized the strict adherence to the admission schedule prescribed by the Medical Council of India's Regulations 2000 and held that no sympathy could be shown to students admitted beyond the cut-off date.
Issues: The main issue was whether the High Court's orders granting provisional admissions to students in post-graduate medical courses beyond the cut-off date were legally sustainable.
Ratio Decidendi: The Court emphasized the importance of strict adherence to the admission schedule prescribed by the Medical Council of India's Regulations 2000 and held that admissions beyond the cut-off date were not permissible. It also highlighted the principle of merit as the sole touchstone for admission to post-graduate courses based on the NEET examination.
Final Decision: The Court allowed the appeals, quashed and set aside the High Court's orders granting provisional admissions, and held that no sympathy could be shown to students admitted beyond the cut-off date. The Court emphasized the need for strict adherence to the admission schedule and upheld the principle of merit for admissions to post-graduate medical courses.
JUDGMENT :
Rastogi, J.
1. Leave granted.
2. The Board of Governors of Medical Council of India (now, “The National Medical Commission”) has filed these appeals assailing the judgment of the High Court of Calcutta directing respondent no.2-West Bengal University of Health Sciences to admit the respondent-candidates initially by interim orders dated 04th June 2019, 16th July, 2019 and 30th July, 2019 passed by the learned Single Judge of the High Court of Calcutta granting provisional admission pursuant to interim orders to the student-applicants in post-graduate medical courses beyond the cut-off date in complete ignorance of their placement in the order of merit in post-graduate medical courses, which were later disposed of by an Order dated 4th November, 2019 on the premise that since the respondent-students have undergone six months of post-graduate medical course, their provisional admission stand regularized and later directed to be treated as a regular post-graduate student.
3. Facts have been noticed from Civil Appeal @ SLP(C) Nos.3507-3508 of 2020 and Civil Appeal @ SLP(C) No.27463 of 2019.
4. It is not disputed that the respondent-students are MBBS Doctors and appeared in NEET (PG) 2019 entrance examination seeking admission in State quota seats in post-graduate medical courses in medical colleges of the State of West Bengal for the academic year 2019-2020.
5. The result of NEET-PG was declared by the National Board of Education (NBE) on 31st January, 2019. The minimum cut-off qualifying marks for NEET examination are as follows:-
(1) Unreserved category - 50th percentile – 340/1200 marks
(2) Reserved category (SC/ST/OBC)-40th percentile – 292/1200 marks
(3) PwD – 45th percentile – 317/1200 marks
The NEET marks and the rank of the respondent-students are as under:-
(1) Priyambada Sharma-NEET Score: 386/1200; NEET Rank: 57960
(2) Priti Dhara - NEET Score:386/1200; NEET Rank:57948
(3) Alankret Dhillon - NEET Score:387/1200; NEET Rank:57581
(4) Anirban Bose - NEET Score:318/1200; NEET Rank:78437
(5) Mohd. Asif Kabir - NEET Score:341/1200; NEET Rank:71142
(6) Kaustav De - NEET Score:626/1200; NEET Rank:24442
(7) Sujan Kr. Ghosh - NEET Score:403/1200; NEET Rank:53324
(8) Pushpak Ghose - NEET Score:626/1200; NEET Rank:12177
(9) Sanjib Kr. Choudhary - NEET Score:319/1200; NEET Rank:78012
6. The admission schedule for the academic year 2018-19 onwards for post-graduate courses as provided in the Medical Council of India Postgraduate Medical Education Regulations, 2000 (hereinafter being referred to as the “Regulations 2000”) amended upto May, 2018 is as follows:-
In the above Appendix the time schedule with regard to Broad Speciality has been substituted with the following in terms of Notification published in the Gazette of India on 20.02.2018 and 05.04.2018.
Admission schedule from the academic year 2018-19 onwards for Postgraduate courses (broad speciality):-
| S. No. | Schedule for Admission | Central Counselling | State Counselling | |
| All India Quota | Deemed + Central Institute | |||
| 1. | Conduct of Exam | By 10th January | ||
| 2. | Declaration of result | By end of January | ||
| 3. | 1st Round of Counselling | 12th March-24th March | 12th March – 24th March | 25th March – 5th April |
| 4. | Last Date of joining | 3rd April | 3rd April | 12th April |
| 5. | 2nd Round of Counselling | 6th April – 12th April | 6th April – 12th April | 15th April – 26th April |
| 6. | Last date of joining | 22nd April | 22nd April | 3rd May |
| 7. | Mop up Round | 12th May – 22nd May | 4th May – 8th May | |
| 8. | Last date of joining | 26th May | 12th May | |
| 9. | Forwarding the list of students in order of merit equalling to ten times the number of vacant seats to the Medical Colleges by the Counselling Authority | 27th May | 13th May | |
| 10. | Last date of joining | 31st May | 18th May | |
Note:
1. All India Quota Seats remaining vacant aft
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