ORDER :

Heard the parties.

2. The petitioners before this Court have been constrained to file the present petition as they have been treated as ineligible for participating in the counselling process which is to be initiated from 1st of April, 2022, on the premise that they had not cleared the qualifying examination up to the cut-off date 30th November, 2009. The date fixed by the respondents as the last date for passing the qualifying qualification, namely, post graduate in the concerned faculty.

3. It is the case of the learned Senior Counsel that the examinations of post graduation were delayed by the directions of the Government of Bihar on account of Covid pandemic, additional three months course of studies were conducted during Covid period and, therefore, the result of the examination was delayed and declared only on 22nd December, 2021.

Learned counsel has also pointed out that the National Board of Examinations had initially fixed date of examination as 13 and 14 November, 2021, for different groups vide its notification, dated 31st August, 2021. In the same notice it laid down the cut-off date of acquiring the qualification as 31st November, 2021. Learned counsel has pointed out that the said date of examination was changed to 10th January, 2022, vide notice, dated 07.10.2021. The decision was taken for reopening of the registration window for the period from 01.11.2021 to 22.11.2021, the edit window was to be opened from 01.12.2021 to 07.12.2021 and final edit window was to be opened from 21.012.2021 to 23.12.2021 and admit cards were to be issued from 3rd January, 2022, as per notice dated 07.10.2021. However, notice did not refer to the change in cut-off date for acquiring the qualifying examination.

Learned counsel has also pointed out that in previous two years during pandemic the National Board of Examinations has been consistently keeping the date of acquiring qualification as the date on which the result is declared in the said year. Thus, for example in the year 2019 the date of declaration of result was mentioned as 15th July, 2019 and the cut-off date was also fixed as 15th July, 2019. Similarly for the year 2020 the date of declaration of result was mentioned as 25th September, 2020, and the cut-off date was also fixed as 25th September, 2020. It is submitted that similarly the cut-off date was fixed as 30th November, 2021. However, the date of examination has now been changed to 10th January, 2022, and the result was declared on 31st January, 2022, and, therefore, the cut-off date ought to have been written as 31.01.2022 for the present year 2021-22.

Learned counsel further submits that in the present circumstances arising due to pandemic Covid a pragmatic approach ought to have been adopted and the petitioners who have already appeared in the examination and have qualified and scored much higher rank than others, would be deprived to participate in the counselling and also be subsequently deprived of pursuing the super-specialty case although they are higher in merit. Merely cause the cut-off date was not changed by the National Board of Examinations.

4. It is strenuously urged by the learned Senior Counsel that the change of cut-off date was a consequential action which was required to be taken and the same has escaped inadvertently from being changed. He submits that the Apex Court has time and again been granting benefit to the students who were not able to get their result available within the cut-off date. He fairly states that in one of the case of All India Institute of Medical Science Vrs. U. Usha & Ors. the Apex Court had granted indulgence, although of course it mentioned it not to be a precedent. In another writ petition Writ Petition(s) (Civil) No(s). 408 of 2021 (Deepak Yadav & Ors. Vrs. Union Public Service Commission & Anr.) the Apex Court has had granted a similar indulgence. Learned counse