Case Note & Summary
The petitioner, Mylepalle Vaibhavi, a candidate who registered with the Karnataka Examinations Authority for admission to MBBS/BDS courses for the academic year 2018-19, challenged the validity of the proviso to Clause 2.2 of Chapter 4 of the Karnataka State Information Bulletin UG NEET 2018. The proviso required that candidates must have completed 17 years of age on or before 31st December 2018. The petitioner, born on 2nd January 2002, would not meet this cut-off and thus was rendered ineligible. The court examined whether this cut-off date was arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. The court observed that the requirement of minimum age for medical admission is to ensure maturity, but fixing a cut-off date of 31st December 2018 had no reasonable nexus to the object. It discriminated between candidates born just before and after that date. The court also noted that the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and regulations require age to be computed as of the date of admission or as prescribed. The court quashed the proviso and directed that the age requirement be computed as of the date of admission or as per the applicable regulations, thereby allowing the petition.
Headnote
A) Constitutional Law - Right to Equality - Article 14 - Age Discrimination - The proviso to Clause 2.2 of Chapter 4 of the Karnataka State Information Bulletin UG NEET 2018 prescribed that candidates must have completed 17 years of age on or before 31st December 2018. The court held that this cut-off date was arbitrary and discriminatory as it treated candidates born after 31st December 2001 differently from those born before, without any reasonable nexus to the object of ensuring minimum age for medical education. The court quashed the proviso and directed that the age requirement be computed as of the date of admission or as per the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956. (Paras 1-5) B) Medical Education - Admission Age Requirement - Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 - Section 33 - The court noted that the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and regulations thereunder require a candidate to have completed 17 years of age on or before the date of admission or such other date as may be prescribed. The impugned proviso fixing 31st December 2018 as the cut-off was held to be inconsistent with the statutory scheme and therefore invalid. (Paras 3-5)
Issue of Consideration
Whether the proviso to Clause 2.2 of Chapter 4 of the Karnataka State Information Bulletin UG NEET 2018, which prescribes a cut-off date of 31st December 2018 for determining the age of candidates for MBBS/BDS admission, is arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
Final Decision
The writ petition is allowed. The proviso to Clause 2.2 of Chapter 4 of the Karnataka State Information Bulletin UG NEET 2018 is quashed. The respondents are directed to consider the age eligibility of candidates as per the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and regulations, i.e., the candidate must have completed 17 years of age on or before the date of admission or such other date as may be prescribed.
Law Points
- Article 226 of the Constitution of India
- Article 14
- Age discrimination
- Reasonable classification
- Medical admissions
- Cut-off date
- Karnataka Examinations Authority
