The court established that candidates should be allowed to correct genuine mistakes in their application forms, particularly when such corrections do not disrupt the overall admission process and uphold the principles of fairness and merit.

JUDGMENT

G.NARENDAR, J. -

Heard the learned counsel for the petitioner and the learned Deputy Solicitor General on behalf of respondent No.1 and the learned Additional Government Advocate on behalf of respondent No.2.

2. The facts in a nutshell are that; the petitioner is a Doctor by profession having completed her Under Graduation and is an aspirant for a Post Graduation course. That she enrolled in the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test-PG (NEET-PG) and completed the entrance examination. She was assigned registered No.23661000587. The examinations having been completed and the answers scripts having been evaluated it has been declared that the petitioner has secured 218 marks and assigned All India Ranking of 144331.

3. It is the case of the petitioner that she belongs to Vokkaliga caste which is categorized under the Other Backward Category (OBC) in the State of Karnataka. That while filling-up the online registration application, the petitioner had failed to choose her caste under the quota reserved for OBC and inadvertently classified herself as competing under the General Merit Category (GMC). This was despite her having categorically described herself as belonging to the Vokkaliga Caste, entitled to reservation under the OBC. That in support of her caste status, she has also produced the caste certificate issued by the Tahsildar, Mulbagal Taluk, Kolar District which clearly reflects the status of the petitioner's caste as Vokkaliga which is categorized as Category-IIIA of the Backward Classes.

4. The petitioner on a review of her application found that she had committed an error and that the information provided by her under the particular column claiming herself to be a 'General Merit' candidate being erroneous, she made a representation on 26/4/2023. A copy of which is produced as Annexure-J. The said representation came to be answered by a letter dtd. 12/5/2023 (Annexure-K), which reads as under:-

"NATIONAL BOARD OF EXAMINATIONS IN MEDICAL SCIENCES

(Autonomous body under Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India)

Ref No: 51011/NBEMS/DoEc/E/2023/23491

dtd.: 12/5/23 Subject: Requesting to consider the caste certificate issued by the Tehsildar and permit me to avail the benefit of OBC (i.e.Other Backward Classes) category quota in the counseling round of NEET-PG 2023-23- reg.

Dear Sir,

This is with reference to your above referred letter regarding above captioned subject matter.

Please be apprised that the role of NBEMS is limited to the conduct of NEET-PG and handing over the results to the designated counseling authority. As per NBEMS records, the information filled in by you in the application form under the head category is "General". As per the clause 8.27 of the Information Bulletin of NEET-PG 2023- "NBEMS does not edit/modify/alter any information entered by the candidates at the time of online submission of application form under any circumstances. Any requests for change in category, Date of Birth, PWD status etc by NBEMS shall not be entertained. Candidates are advised to carefully enter the information in the application form. The Category/PwD status filled by the candidates while applying for NEET-PG 2023 will not be changed by Medical Counseling Committee (MCC) of DGHS, Govt of India at the time of counseling. The details of the candidates will be pre-populated in Counseling Registration Form as provided by them while filling up the NBEMS Application form for NEET-PG 2023. Any representation in this regard will not be entertained by MCC".

In view of the above, any change in the information filled in by you in the application form is not permissible at this stage."

5. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that, she approached this Court by way of the instant writ petition on 15/6/2023. The learned counsel for the petitioner would submit that the petitioner is aged about 23 and that error was a result of inadvertence and oversight. The fact of the petitioner hailing from a caste