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SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
S. RAVINDRA BHAT, ARAVIND KUMAR, JJ.
Pallavi - Appellant
Versus
Union of India & Ors. - Respondents
Writ Petition (Civil) No(s). 642 of 2023
Decided On : 01-09-2023
Education – NEET Examination – Petitioner was treated as a foreign national and allowed to appear in NEET mains as OCI cardholder – She even secured a fairly high rank – She was allowed to participate in mock rounds of allocations which led to an indication that she would be offered PG in Paediatrics in AIIMS and just before first round of counselling she was informed that her status would no longer be as a foreign national and that she would be treated as an Indian National – MHA Notification dated 04.03.2021 withdraws eligibility or privileges which had been hitherto conferred upon OCI Card holders regarding their parity with Indian nationals for appearing in All India examinations such as NEET – When right conferred was withdrawn and altered, in process leading to such change, should demonstrate application of mind, nexus to object of such withdrawal or modification and any such decision had to be free of arbitrariness – Petitioner’s eligibility to claim benefit of OCI card holder is undeniable – Rejection of her candidature at this stage is not supportable in law – She is directed to be considered in remaining counselling rounds by AIIMS and all participating institutions for PG Medical seats – Consideration would be regarding seats that are unfilled on the date of this Judgment whether reserved for SC/ST/OBC or other categories. (Paras 14, 15, 16, 17 and 18 )
Facts of the case:
Petitioner has approached this Court seeking relief under Article 32 of Constitution aggrieved by rejection of candidature to a Post Graduate medical seat; the respondent rejected her application after she was allowed to appear in the written examination and the results were declared for NEET (PG) and the INI-CET/2023.
Findings of Court:
Consideration would be regarding seats that are unfilled on the date of this judgment whether reserved for SC/ST/OBC or other categories and such as specially earmarked for Bhutanese candidates etc. if they can be filled by other candidates, like her. Furthermore, this facility should be open to petitioner as well as other candidates based upon the available records of those issued OCI cards prior to 04.03.2021 and who can participate in such counselling having regard to their performance in the NEET test, and their ranking.
Result : Writ Petition allowed.
JUDGMENT :
S. Ravindra Bhat, J.
1. The petitioner has approached this Court seeking relief under Article 32 of the Constitution aggrieved by the rejection of candidature to a Post Graduate medical seat; the respondent rejected her application after she was allowed to appear in the written examination and the results were declared for the NEET (PG) and the INI-CET/2023 (hereafter called “NEET” collectively).
2. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), the Nodal Agency for the NEET test/examination, called for applications from eligible candidates by publishing a prospectus for NEET process on 07.03.2023. The petitioner applied and was issued the examination admit card on 01.05.2023. She participated and appeared in the NEET examination on 07.05.2023. The petitioner holds an Overseas Citizen of India card (hereafter called the “OCI card holder”). She is a U.S. National and was born on 22.02.1999.
3. The prospectus published by the respondents stipulated the eligibility conditions which indicated that the candidate should possess a Medical or Dental Degree and must have completed the required period of 12 months training and should possess a certificate of grading system from the concerned universities/institutions to determine the value of grading in percentage and the minimum marks in aggregate in MBBS/BDS professional examinations was to be 55% aggregate or equivalent. In addition, for Foreign Nationals, No Objection Certificate was also deemed essential. This was to be issued by the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. The stipulation for OCI candidates and the relevant requirements for admission into PG courses for Indian Nationals as well as sponsored and Foreign Nationals, reads as follows :
Section V: Seats available for admission into postgraduate courses for July 2023 Session of various INIs
The seats available for admission into postgraduate courses in participating INIs for July 2023 session are of two types
1. Seats available for all Indian Nationals (excluding sponsored & Foreign National seats)
A consolidated list of seats available for admission into postgraduate courses in participating INIs for July 2023 session of various INIs will be prepared and published by Examination section, AIIMS, New Delhi on the basis of official information received from respective INIs. The INI-wise list received from various INIs shall be accessible from Seats Available Tab of the INI-CET portal. These lists are subjected to change as per the decision of respective INIs and shall be updated as per information received by the Examination Section, AIIMS, New Delhi. The list of seats available shall not be changed after the declaration of the results. The updated consolidated list of available postgraduate seats for seat allocation (INI-wise and specialty-wise) for July 2023 session shall be published before the declaration of results.
2. Seats available for Sponsored & Foreign National
The list of INI-wise and Specialty-wise available seats for Sponsored & Foreign Nationals will be accessible through Seats Available Tab on or before starting of “completion of application” as per mentioned in the “Important dates Tab”.
4. The petitioner’s application listed her as the OCI candidate, and she appeared in the examination in that capacity; the results declared on 13.05.2023 showed that she had secured 96.73 percentile, and her overall rank was 1902. It is asserted that this list also recognized her in OCI category. Her roll number was mentioned in the provisionally qualified list of candidates published on 13.05.2023.
5. The communication dated 25.05.2023,1[No. F. AIIMS/EXAM.SEC. /4-5/(INI-CET-PG-June-2023)/2023.] provided information for the f
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