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2020 Supreme(Del) 1057
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
Jayant Nath, J.
Deepika Veerwal - Appellant
Versus
National Board Of Examination & Anr. - Respondent
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 5543 of 2020
Decided On : 15-10-2020
Sonia Mathur, Advocate, Divyesh Pratap Singh, Advocate, Deeksha Gaur, Advocate, Shantanu Sharma, Advocate, Puneet Pathak, Advocate, Kirtiman Singh, Advocate, Waize Ali Noor, Advocate, Somnath Parashar, Advocate, G.K. Kaushik, Advocate, Abhinav Kaushik, Advocate, R.K. Gupta, Advocate, Avnish Ahlawat, Advocate, Nitesh Kumar Singh, Advocate, Rishikesh Kumar, Advocate, Palak Rohmetra, Advocate
The rejection of the petitioner's NOC on trivial grounds was unjust and arbitrary, and the court referenced relevant judgments to support its decision.
Headnote:
Counselling - NOC - DNB Seats - NEET PG 2020 - [COUNSELLING] - [NEET PG 2020] - [DNB PDCET 2020] - [DNB (Post MBBS and Post Diploma) seats] - [The court discussed the eligibility criteria for sponsored DNB seats, the submission of online undertaking and NOC, and the importance of the NOC being issued by the Head of the Office with the official seal and name and designation of the authority. The court highlighted the arbitrary rejection of the petitioner's NOC on trivial grounds and the subsequent denial of her participation in the first round of counselling. The court also referenced the judgments of the Supreme Court in Dolly Chhanda v. Chairman, JEE and Others and Asha v. Pt. B.D. Sharma, University of Health Sciences and Others to support its decision.]
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a medical officer, was denied participation in the first round of counselling for sponsored DNB seats (Post MBBS) due to the alleged defects in her NOC. Despite efforts to rectify the alleged defects, she was not allowed to participate, leading to the present petition.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the rejection of the petitioner's NOC on trivial grounds was unjust and arbitrary, and she was wrongly debarred from participating in the first counselling. The court set aside the admission of another candidate and directed the authority to admit the petitioner to the Radio-diagnosis seat she was entitled to based on her merit.
Issues: The main issue was whether the petitioner was wrongly denied participation in the first round of counselling for sponsored DNB seats due to the alleged defects in her NOC.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that the rejection of the petitioner's NOC on trivial grounds was unjust and arbitrary, referencing the judgments of the Supreme Court in Dolly Chhanda v. Chairman, JEE and Others and Asha v. Pt. B.D. Sharma, University of Health Sciences and Others to support its decision.
Final Decision: The court set aside the admission of another candidate and directed the authority to admit the petitioner to the Radio-diagnosis seat she was entitled to based on her merit, subject to the authority granting her leave and relieving her from her present duty.
Key Points: - The petitioner alleges her NOC was rejected on trivial grounds and seeks admission to a Radio-diagnosis seat based on merit [11000670390001] (!) (!) . - The counselling process required online undertaking and NOC by a fixed deadline; issues arose due to alleged defects in the NOC and its stamping [11000670390003] (!) (!) (!) (!) . - The NOC was challenged as defective for lack of official seal/name designation; lists of correct/defective NOCs were published, and petitioner contends she was not listed despite merit [11000670390011][11000670390021][11000670390024]. - The court found the alleged defects trivial and arbitrary, set aside a lower-admission decision, and directed admission to the petitioner’s entitled seat, subject to leave relief [11000670390024][11000670390029][11000670390030]. - The second round counselling notice and additional opportunities for NOC submission were referenced as part of the eligibility process and responses to defects [11000670390013][11000670390012]. - The petitioner stood at 5th merit for the Radio-diagnosis seat (7 seats total); others with lower merits were admitted in some instances, raising questions of fairness and merit-based allocation (!) (!) . - The decision discusses the importance of timely possession/verification of required documents and the balance between procedure and substantive merit in admissions. (!) (!) (!)
How to determine whether the rejection of an NOC/undertaking on allegedly defective grounds was unjust and arbitrary?
What is the proper interpretation of eligibility criteria and procedural requirements for sponsored DNB (Post MBBS) seats in counselling?
What are the remedies and directions a court may grant when a merit-based seat is denied due to purported NOC defects?
JUDGMENT
Jayant Nath, J. - This writ petition is filed by the petitioner as the petitioner was not allowed to participate in the First Round of Counselling for the sponsored DNB seats (Post MBBS). The petitioner seeks the following reliefs:-
"(i) Issue a writ in nature of Mandamus or any other Writ, or Orders/Directions extending the counselling period of registration and filling option/choices of available seats (S.No.1 of counselling process mentioned in Annexure P-11), allowing the Petitioner to participate therein and allotting a merit based seat in sponsored DNB seats (Post MBBS), and/or;
(ii) Issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other Writ, or Orders/Directions to Respondent No. 1 to secure a seat in Post MBBS DNB course (Radio-diagnosis) in which a student either equivalent to or immediately lower to the rank of Petitioner has been allotted a seat, and/or;
(iii) Issue a writ in nature of Mandamus or any other Writ, or Orders/Directions to Respondent No. 1 to induct the Petitioner in sponsored DNB seat in Radio-diagnosis as per her merit, and/or;
(iv) Issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other Writ, or Orders/Directions to Respondent No. 1 to allot a seat in Post MBBS DNB Radio-diagnosis course wherever vacant, and/or;
v) Issue a writ in the nature of Mandamus or any other Writ, or Orders/Directions to Respondent No. 1 awarding adequate compensation to the Petitioner for causing monitory as well as mental agony"
2. The case of the petitioner is that she completed her MBBS Course in January 2012 from Krishna Institute of Medical Sciences, Karad, Maharashtra. Upon clearing UPSC, she was appointed as a Medical Officer DHS Cadre (GDMO sub cadre) under the Health & Welfare Dept., NCT of Delhi presently being posted at Lok Nayak Hospital. It is stated that the petitioner had appeared in the NEET PG 2019 Examination, where she secured a rank of 10437. She became eligible for admission in Post Graduate course of Radio-diagnosis at Vivekanand Poly Clinic, Lucknow. However, her application was turned down on the ground that the original certificates of the petitioner were with Vardhman Mahavir Medical College, Delhi (VMMC). Certain litigations were initiated by the petitioner which may not be relevant for the present petition.
3. The petitioner sought permission from the Competent Authority, namely, Lok Nayak Hospital for appearing for NEET PG, 2020 Examination. The permission was duly granted, and the petitioner secured a rank of 16135.
4. It is further pleaded that respondent No. 1 issued a notice on 10.06.2020 releasing the vacancies in respect to centralized merit-based counselling for admission to sponsored DNB seats (Post MBBS & Post Diploma). These seats were for candidates working in government organizations on a regular basis who were only eligible for sponsored DNB (Post MBBS) seats. The candidates who fulfilled the eligibility criteria were required to submit an online undertaking and a No Objection Certificate (NOC). The counselling commenced from 27.07.2020.
5. The petitioner is said to have emailed a NOC issued by the Competent Authority, being Lok Nayak Hospital and also an undertaking in the prescribed manner on 23.06.2020. The last date for submitting the said documents was 30.06.2020 which was subsequently extended to 10.07.2020.
6. On 14.08.2020, another notice was issued by respondent no.1 with a direction that the selection process would be online and the counselling process and filling options/choices of the available seats would be done from 18.08.2020 to 20.08.2020. The process of allotment and result of allotment were to be done on 21.08.2020. The payment of the first year course fees was to take place from 21st to 27th August, 2020. Physical joining was to start from 21.08.2020 until 31.08.2020.
7. It is the case of the petitioner that the registration process started from 18.08.2020 but the petitioner could not find any link on the website to aid the process of registration. The petition
