ORDER :

Ashok Kumar Gaur, J.

1. This writ petition has been filed by the petitioner challenging order (e-mail) dated 05.05.2020 passed by the National Board of Examinations (hereinafter shall be referred to as 'NBE') declaring the petitioner ineligible to appear in the next NEET PG Examination.

2. The facts of the case, in the nutshell, are that petitioner has completed her MBBS in March, 2019 from Nepalganj Medical College, Nepal and applied for Foreign Medical Graduates Examination (hereinafter shall be referred to as 'FMGE') in December, 2019 and appeared in the examination for obtaining permanent license/registration number.

3. The petitioner has pleaded that she was under the impression that the students who are awaiting their results of FMGE December, 2019 and have an internship till 31.03.2020 are eligible to appear in NEET PG Examination, 2020. The petitioner has pleaded that she applied and filled online application for NEET PG Examination, 2020 (Application No. PG139214) wherein information to be filled in about FMGE/MCI registration details was optional and the students who were awaiting their results and have not got their registration number from MCI but were in process of allotment, were also eligible. The petitioner has placed on record copy of her Application Form of NEET PG 2020 as Annexure-3.

4. The petitioner has pleaded that after receipt of admit card for NEET PG 2020, she learnt for the first time that in order to appear in the Examination, she was to produce certain documents like admit card, photo ID, permanent/provisional MCI registration number, etc. The petitioner has pleaded that asking of this information came as a surprise to the petitioner and being a law abiding person, since she did not have any permanent/provisional MCI registration number, as such, she voluntarily chose not to sit and compete in the Examination.

5. The petitioner has pleaded that the above mistake was crept in on account of ambiguous information bulletin for NEET PG 2020 and her inadvertence that she assumed herself to be an eligible candidate to appear in NEET PG 2020. The petitioner has averred in the petition that she did not fill in any wrong information in the Application Form and the said mistake was truly a bona fide one.

6. The petitioner has further pleaded that she did not conceal and suppress any material fact and voluntarily chose not to appear in the Examination as she was not eligible, as the documents required to be produced at the examination centre were not in her possession. The petitioner has pleaded that she furnished all the required information which a candidate could fill in the online portal and there was no additional remark or information box available wherein she could briefly write down the clarification in the Application Form.

7. The petitioner has pleaded that she received a show cause notice through e-mail dated 27.01.2020 wherein it was communicated to the petitioner that she had mentioned the name of one of the Medical Councils of the country and also the registration number for registration of her MBBS qualification, however, she did not upload the registration certificate documents under SMC/MCI registration in NEET PG 2020 Application Form.

8. The show cause notice issued to the petitioner further communicated that the petitioner was not registered with any Medical Council in the country and she was yet to qualify FMGE and, as such, she submitted false information regarding her SMC/ MCI registration in NEET PG 2020 Application Form. It was communicated that as per NEET PG 2020 information bulletin producing permanent/provisional registration with the Medical Council or FMGE pass certificate, issued by NBE, is mandatory for an Indian citizen to appear in NEET PG and as such, the petitioner was asked to furnish a clarification explaining why she should not be declared ineligible for NEET PG 2020.

9. The petitioner has further pleaded that she submitted a detailed reply to the show cause notice and sta