The main legal point established in the judgment is that the denial of admission based solely on the failure to produce original certificates, without considering the fulfillment of eligibility criteria and possession of the original degree certificate before the cut-off date, is unjustified.

JUDGMENT :

Rajiv Shakdher, J.

Preface: -

1. This is a petition which is directed against communication dated 04.06.2019 (hereafter referred to as "impugned communication") whereby the National Board of Examinations (NBE) intimated to the petitioner that the seat allotted to him for January 2019 admission session had been "forfeited" on account of his failure to produce original certificates during the certificate verification process. This communication went on to state that the petitioner's seat had been "forwarded" to the next round of counselling.

Background: -

2. The petitioner being aggrieved has filed the instant writ petition against the impugned communication in the background of the following broad facts.

2.1 In and about January 2019, the petitioner who is a qualified MBBS doctor sat for the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test - Post Graduate, 2019 (in short "NEET-PG 2019"). The NEET-PG 2019 result was declared on 31.01.2019. In the merit list, the petitioner was ranked 2140.

2.2 It is pertinent to note that the NEET-PG 2019 merit list, as in the previous years, is a common merit list based on which students are admitted to various postgraduate courses offered by medical colleges across the country based on quotas which include the All India Quota, the State Quota and the seats allocated by the NBE.

2.3 The process for admission requires students to attend counselling sessions on the stipulated date, time, and venue before the counselling committees set up for this purpose.

2.4 Insofar as the All India Quota is concerned, in which MD/MS seats are allocated, the counselling is carried out by the Director General of Health Services (in short "DGHS") via the Medical Counselling Committee (in short "MCC").

2.5 Likewise, the MD/MS seats in the State Quota are allocated by the State counselling authorities. Similarly, the allocation of DNB (Post MBBS) seats is carried out by the counselling committee set up by the NBE.

2.6 In the first instance, the petitioner was called for the first round of counselling under the All India Quota. Resultantly, in and about March 2019, the petitioner was allocated a seat in MD (General Medicine) in the Government Medical College, Amritsar, Punjab.

2.7 The petitioner, however, availed of the free exit route (i.e. did not join the aforementioned college) and hence became entitled to be invited for the second round of counselling.

2.8 The second round of counselling was held in and about April 2019. This time around, the petitioner was allotted a seat in MD (General Medicine) in respondent no. 3 college i.e. Shri M.P. Shah Medical College, Jamnagar, Gujarat. The petitioner took admission with the aforementioned college and as required deposited his original documents/certificates.

2.9 As luck would have it, even though he had taken admission in respondent no. 3 college, he was called for the third round of counselling on 23.05.2019 by the NBE for DNB (Post MBBS) course.

3. The list published by the NBE showed that the petitioner was allocated a seat in DNB (Radio Diagnosis) in Breach Candy Hospital, Mumbai, Maharashtra.

3.1 Since the petitioner was spoiled for choices, he gave up his seat in respondent no. 3 college by dispatching a resignation letter dated 24.05.2019. The reason given in this communication was that due to certain circumstances obtaining in the family he was required to participate in the State and DNB counselling.

3.2 On the date fixed for counselling by the NBE which was 29.05.2019, the petitioner appeared before the concerned committee but he was denied admission as during the certificate verification process it was found that he had not carried the requisite documents/certificates in original.

3.3 The petitioner claims that during the certificate verification process, he had presented photocopies of the requisite documents/certificates along with an affidavit wherein he had averred that the originals stood deposited with the respondent no. 3 college in which he had obtained admission