Judicial directions in admission procedures must be adhered to, and no fault should penalize eligible candidates.

JUDGMENT

The issue relates to admission to Post Graduate Medical Course in Otorhinolaryngology. This Court had by order dated 19.10.2023 in W.P(C).No.34757 of 2023, considered the request of the Malabar Medical College Hospital and Research Centre for interim direction to include the College for the purpose of allotment during the stray vacancy round to the one seat in MS(ENT) provisionally, since the process of affiliation was underwent, and ordered as follows:

“This Court is aware that admissions cannot be made without affiliation for a seat. This Court is also aware of the fact that the Regulation of the University prohibits admission anticipating affiliation. However, taking into account the circumstances of this case, where the petitioners had approached this Court much earlier and directions had also been issued, there will be an interim direction to the 4^th respondent to include the 1^st petitioner College for the purpose of allotment during the stray vacancy round to the one seat in MS(ENT) provisionally. The candidates, who are seeking admission should be informed that the affiliation process is not yet over and that the admission is subject to affiliation being granted to the University. The petitioners shall not take any fee from the students allotted by the 4^th respondent till a positive order of affiliation is issued by the University”.

2. The order was issued on 19.10.2023. The order was issued on the premise that the stray vacancy allotment was between 17.10.2023 and 20.10.2023. Since the official respondents did not act on the interim order and the seat was not made available on 20.10.2023 in the website, the College appears to have proceeded to admit a student based on merit on 20^th in order to ensure that admission was made within the time stipulated. Such a course of action had not been ordered in the interim order dated 19.10.2023. According to the College, it was the intention of this Court to ensure that the seat was made available once the affiliation is granted and a student is also admitted to the said seat without violating the time frame fixed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court. It so happened that on 17.10.2023 itself when the stray vacancy round was ordered by the Medical Counselling Committee, the date fixed was actually 17.10.2023 to 25.10.2023. On 21.10.2023, the Commissioner of Entrance Examination issued orders extending the period for filling up seats in the stray vacancy round till 25.10.2023, based on the notice which had been issued by the Office of the MCC on 17.10.2023. The Commissioner has also issued the list of vacancies which are available for filling up under the stray vacancy round on 21.10.2023, wherein the Malabar Medical College Hospital and Research Centre was included for one seat in Otorhinolaryngology specifically stating that it is provisional and subject to the result of W.P(C).No.34757 of 2023. Based on the inclusion of the College the petitioner in W.P(C).No.35915 of 2023 sought admission as she belongs to a Scheduled Caste Community and the seat had been reserved as per the roster to Scheduled Caste candidates. The question now to be decided is whether the person who was granted admission on 20.10.2023 by the College or whether the petitioner in W.P(C).No.35915 of 2023 who has approached the College on the basis of the inclusion of the College in the stray vacancy round as per notification issued by the CEE is to be preferred for admission. The Counsel for the College and the student who was admitted by the College submitted that the admission was not owing to any fault on their part and it was only owing to the reason that the official respondents did not include the College for allotment as directed by this Court on 20.10.2023 and at that point of time the