Case Note & Summary
The petitioner, an Indian citizen belonging to the Dhangar NT-2 category, appeared for the National Eligibility-Cum-Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2019 and secured 477 out of 720 marks, with an All India Rank of 63836 and state rank 5598. Despite qualifying, he was not allotted any MBBS seat in the Centralised Admission Process (CAP) rounds conducted by the State Common Entrance Test Cell under the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admissions and Fees) Act, 2015. He was also unsuccessful in the mop-up round. Subsequently, in the mop-up round II limited to government/aided/corporation colleges, he was offered a BDS seat at Government Dental College, Mumbai, which he declined as he aspired to pursue MBBS. Notices dated 4th September 2019 and 8th September 2019 outlined the procedure for institutional rounds for vacant MBBS seats in private unaided/minority medical colleges. The petitioner sought admission in these rounds at respondent nos. 4 and 5 colleges, where seats were allegedly vacant. He contended that the respondent colleges failed to display the vacancy list and merit list as mandated, and instead directly admitted respondent nos. 6 and 9, who were open category candidates with lower NEET scores, thus violating the statutory admission process and reservation norms. The petitioner filed the instant writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, seeking to quash those admissions and to secure his own admission to an MBBS seat. The court heard the matter on 22nd October 2019, considering the compliance with the admission procedure and the legality of the institutional round admissions.
Headnote
A) Medical Education - Institutional Round - Compliance with Admission Procedure - Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admissions and Fees) Act, 2015 - Petitioner, an NT-2 candidate with higher NEET marks, alleged that private medical colleges failed to display vacancy and merit list and instead directly admitted open category candidates with lower marks, bypassing the prescribed procedure under Notices No. 30 and No. 34 - The matter involves interpretation of the Act and adherence to the admission schedule (Paras 6-10).
Issue of Consideration
Whether the institutional round admissions to MBBS course in respondent Medical Colleges were conducted in accordance with the prescribed procedure under the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admissions and Fees) Act, 2015 and the notices issued by the State Common Entrance Test Cell; whether the petitioner, a reserved category candidate with higher NEET score, was illegally denied admission in favour of open category candidates with lower scores.
Law Points
- Admission to private unaided medical colleges must be through institutional round as per notices
- merit list to be displayed
- reservation applicable
- candidates with higher NEET scores cannot be bypassed
- the court can examine compliance with statutory admission process.
