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IN THE HIGH COURT OF ALLAHABAD
DEVENDRA KUMAR UPADHYAYA, SUBHASH VIDYARTHI, JJ.
C/M, Alpsankhyak Shiksha Vikas Samiti, Kanpur Thru. Dr. Zamir Ahmed and Another - Appellants
Versus
State of U.P., Thru. Addl. Chief Secy. Deptt. of Ayush Govt. of U.P. Civil Secrt. Lko. and Others - Respondents
Special Appeal No. 91 of 2023
Decided On : 06-03-2023
Allahabad High Court Rules - Rule 5 - National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020 - Section 10, 55(1), (2) - Constitution of India, 1950 - Article 32 - Medical courses - Eligibility criteria - Reduce percentile criteria for admission - Prayer for quashing order whereby prayer of appellants for reducing percentile criteria for admission to undergraduate B.U.M.S. and B.A.M.S. courses based on NEET has been refused – Eligibility criteria was fixed to maintain quality of education and to give opportunity to well qualified and skillful students. [Para 30]
Finding of the Court: If court examine reason given by Commission in order in light of undisputed fact that though NEET UG carries 715 maximum marks and cut-off marks for general category candidates has been fixed at 117 and those for reserved category has been fixed to be 93, though Court is not expert in such matters, however, court have no reason to disagree with Commission's view that further lowering cut-off marks will not be conducive for purpose for which NEET is organized i.e. to select best of candidates to pursue medical courses in Indian systems of medicine - Submission made on behalf of appellants that there exists non-availability of candidates and because of their non-availability seats in their institutions remained unfilled also does not impress court for simple reason that total available candidates on basis of existing cut of percentile are 9,93,069 whereas total number of seats to be filled in all streams of undergraduate courses is only 2 lakhs - Accordingly, possibility of available candidates who are credited with more percentile than cut-off percentile having not opted for institutes run by appellant-petitioners, cannot be denied – Court do not find any good ground to interfere with order passed by learned Single Judge.
Result: Appeal dismissed.
JUDGMENT :
1. Our jurisdiction under Chapter VIII Rule 5 of the Allahabad High Court Rules has been invoked to question the legality and validity of the order dated 03.03.2023 passed by learned Single Judge in Writ C No. 1747 of 2023. By the said order learned Single Judge has dismissed the writ petition which was filed with a prayer for quashing the order passed by the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (hereinafter referred to as the ''Commission'), dated 02.03.2023 whereby the prayer of the appellants-petitioners for reducing the percentile criteria for admission to undergraduate B.U.M.S. and B.A.M.S. courses based on NEET 2022 has been refused and further, the request for extending the date of counseling for the purposes of said admission has also not been acceded to.
2. Heard Sri Rajat Rajan Singh, Sri Vidhu Bhushan Kalia and Sri. Adarsh Saxena Advocates, the learned counsel representing the appellants-petitioners and Sri Asit Chaturvedi, learned Senior Advocate assisted by Sri Devak Vardhan Advocate for the Commission, Sri Shailendra Kumar Singh, learned Chief Standing Counsel assisted by Sri Nishant Shukla, learned Standing Counsel representing the State of UP, Sri Anand Dwivedi, learned counsel representing the Union of India.
3. In deference to our order passed on 04.03.2023 Dr. S. Sreenivasa Prasad Beduru, President, Board of Ayurveda, National Commission for Indian System of Medicines is present in person in the Court. He has also been heard in support of the case put forth before us by the Commission.
4. We have also perused the records available before us on this special appeal.
5. The appellant no. 1 is a society which runs a medical college offering undergraduate/bachelor's degree courses in Unani system of medicine, whereas the appellant no. 2 is also a society which runs a medical college offering undergraduate course in Ayurvedic system of medicine.
6. The central legislature enacted the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine Act, 2020 (Act No. 14 of 2020) for providing an appropriate medical education system that improves access to quality and affordable medical education and further ensures availability of adequate and high quality medical professionals of Indian system of medicine in all parts of the country. The functions of the said Commission, as described in Section 10 of the Act, 2020, are inter alia to lay down policies for maintaining high quality and high standards in education in Indian system of medicine and to make necessary regulations therefor. Section 55(1) of the 2020 Act empowers the Commission to make regulations to carry out the provisions of the said Act. In exercise of its powers vested in it under sub section (2) of Section 55 of 2020 Act, two separate sets of Regulations have been framed by the Commission which are known as (i) National Commission for Indian System of Medicines (Minimum Standards of Undergraduate Ayurvedic Education) Regulations, 2022 and National Commission for Indian System of Medicines (Minimum Standards of Undergraduate Unani Education) Regulations, 2022, notified respectively on 16.02.2022 and 28.02.2022. As per the scheme for making admissions available in these two regulations, admissions to undergraduate courses in Ayurvedic and Unani systems of medicine are made through National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) which is to be conducted by an authority to be designated for the said purpose by the Commission. The authority designated for conducting the NEET by the Commission is National Board of Examination in Medical Science, New Delhi.
7. National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, Undergraduate (NEET UG) was held in the month of April, 2022 for making admissions in the academic session 2022-23. On the basis of the result of NEET UG 2022, online counseling was to be held in five rounds, namely the first round, the second round, mop-up/3rd round, special mop-up round and stray vacancy round. Last date of counseling as determined by the Commi
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