Guidelines issued by Delhi High Court for admission to Medical PG: Delhi High Court

7 IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI Date of decision: 25th August 2020 W.P.(C) 4755 2020 DR. MACHAT BALAKRISHNAN MENON Petitioner Through: Mr. John Mathew and Mr. Karthik SD Advocates.MEDICAL COUNCIL COMMITTEE & ORS. Respondents Through: Mr. Kirtiman Singh CGSC with Mr. Rohan Anand Mr. Waize Ali Noor for R 1. With Mr. Srinivas DG MCC. Mr. Sanjay Dewan and Ms. Nishima Arora R 2. Mr. T. Singhdev and Mr. Ahijit Chakravarty Adocate for R 4. Mr. G. Prakash Standing Counsel for JUSTICE PRATHIBA M. SINGH Prathiba M. Singh J.CM APPL.17161 20204755 2020 W.P.(C) 4755 2020 & CM APPLs.17160 2020This hearing has been held through video conferencing. The Petitioner is a qualified doctor who finished his M.B.B.S. from Travancore Medical College Kollam which is affiliated to the Kerala University of Health Sciences. He has filed the present writ petition with a prayer to preserve his admission at the Maulana Azad Medical College hereinafter “MAMC”) for MDand holds an EWS certificate from the State of Kerala. He appeared in the National Eligibility Entrance Testexamination conducted by the National Board of Examination on 5th January 2020. The results of the examination were published on 29th January 2020 and the Petitioner obtained rank No.35948. As per procedure the Petitioner had to register himself for counselling for various quotas. The counselling is conducted by the Medical Counseling Committee at the National Institute of Community Health New Delhi in the first round of counselling. He however did not take up the same and awaited the second round of counselling. In the second round of counselling it is the Petitioner’s case that he was not allotted any seat however in the mop up round he was allotted a seat for MDin MAMC. He received an e mail on 25th July 2020 asking him to report to MAMC along with all the necessary documents. He thereafter travelled and reported at MAMC on W.P.(C) 4755 2020 26th July 2020 and took admission. However sometime in the evening after the admission process was completed he was informed by the college staff that he had been wrongfully allotted a seat under the Delhi University Quota and thus his admission could not be confirmed. He thereafter visited the office of the Registrar MAMC but did not get any clarity from him. The Petitioner even met Dr. B. Srinivas ADGME Directorate General of Health Services Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in New Delhi and wrote an e mail on 27th July 2020 to MCC however there was no clarity. Accordingly he preferred the present petition. 7. On 30th July 2020 ld. counsels for Respondent Nos.1 and 4 were present on advance notice. On the said date after taking a prima facie view this Court had directed that the seat allotted to the Petitioner would not be filled in further counselling sessions till the next date of hearing. Thereafter the matter has been heard on 19th August 2020 and today. Replies have been filed by Respondent No.1 and the Petitioner has filed additional documents. Respondent No.3 i.e. the University of Delhi has also filed its counter affidavit. These documents are taken on record. 8. Mr. John Mathew ld. counsel appearing for the Petitioner submits that the Petitioner never intended to apply under the Delhi University Quota without being eligible. He submits that in the initial registration itself when he registered with DU he fairly disclosed the college from where he completed his M.B.B.S. It is his submission that the MCC and the MAMC are aware of the college from where he passed his M.B.B.S. Thus there is no intention to mislead. He submits that the Petitioner was also allotted a seat in State Quota in the mop up round. However because he had been allotted a seat in MAMC he opted not to take admission in the MD W.P.(C) 4755 2020 Psychiatry programme at Dr. Somervell Memorial CSI Medical College Karakonam Thiruvananthapuram under the private self financing category. The last date for him to accept admission in the said college was 28th July 2020. Since he had already been allotted MAMC by then he had travelled to Delhi and the seat at SMC was forgone by him. 9. Ld. counsel submits that the authorities owe a duty to the candidates to verify the information so that confusion is not created in the minds of candidates who are applying for counselling. He submits that MCC also knew that the Petitioner had studied from Travancore Medical College Kollam Kerala. Thus even if the candidate makes a mistake the authorities ought to have some re verification procedure failing which the candidates would be deprived of such valuable seats. Ld. counsel submits that the Petitioner has obtained a seat in MAMC in a bona fide manner and in any event a student from DU with a lesser rank would be able to take his seat. Accordingly he submits that in view of the fact that counselling is completed the Petitioner may not be deprived of his seat in MAMC. 10. Ld. counsel for the Petitioner has also relied upon the judgment in Duddugunta Vishnu Priya v. Directorate General of Health Services & Anr 3636 2020 decided on 3rd July 2020] to argue that the Petitioner should not be made to suffer due to a bona fide human error. 11. On behalf of Respondent No.1 Mr. Kirtiman Singh ld. CGSC duly instructed by Prof. Mr. Srinivas from the MCC has placed on record the various forms which were filled by the candidates. Ld. counsel has also taken the Court through the various stages for filling of the counselling form. He submits that the candidates are well aware that only those W.P.(C) 4755 2020 candidates who complete their M.B.B.S. from DU are eligible for the Delhi University Quota. Thus he submits that the Petitioner was conscious of the fact that his allotment itself was a mistake in view of the mistaken quota in which he had applied. It is further submitted that upon seeing the documents of the Petitioner when MAMC realised that the Petitioner had completed his M.B.B.S. from Kerala he was immediately informed that his admission cannot be confirmed. 12. On the last date considering this predicament of the Petitioner notice was issued to the State of Kerala. Mr. G. Prakash ld. standing counsel has appeared for the State of Kerala and submits that the Petitioner did not make it in the first few rounds of counseling in Kerala and was only allotted a seat in the mop up round. However since the Petitioner has given up his seat the said seat may have reverted to the Medical College itself. Ld. counsel however submits that if there are any seats available the State of Kerala would endeavour to allot a seat to the Petitioner under the private self financing category. 13. Heard ld. Counsel for the parties. A perusal of the various documents filed on record shows that the Petitioner had registered in the counselling form for the All India Quota Delhi University Quota Central Inst. Quota. This was a clear mistake. There was no doubt about the fact that the Petitioner ought to have been conscious of the fact that he would not have been eligible under the Delhi University Quota. 14. As per question No. 57 of the FAQs circulated to all the candidates prior to registration for counselling the eligibility criteria for each of the institutional quotas is set out below. The said FAQ reads as under: “Q.No. 57: What will be the eligibility criteria for 50% W.P.(C) 4755 2020 Institutional seats of Central Universities which is being conducted by DGHS Ans: The eligibility conditions of the 50% Institutional Quota of the Central Universities will be as per the following eligibility criteria given by the respective institutions. For additional information please contact the concerned University. An Institutional candidate is one who has passed the qualifying by THIS University as a regular student not earlier than THREE academic years from the date of admission to the Course he she is seeking admission to. And all other candidates shall he treated as External. For Admission to M.D M.S. M.D.S PG Diploma course 2020 in the faculty of medicine candidates who complete their internship between April 01 2017 and March 31 2020 shall be considered Inernal Candidates. Further it is pointed out that for Stray Vacancy Round only Institutional candidates arc eligible to Only those Candidates who have passed Institute of Medical Sciences. BHU in Dccember 2018 Supplementary Batch by 31.3.2019) and have completed compulsory rotatory internship before 31.3.2020 will be considered for admission to M.D. M.S. IMS BHU under Course 2020 pool provided the candidate has appeared and in NEET PG W.P.(C) 4755 2020 Candidates who are already pursuing M.D. M.S. course in IMS BHU through internalquota OR passed institute of Medical Sciences BHU in earlier academic years i.e. before December 2018 ) are not eligible for admission to PG Course 20 20 under BHU internala) For Delhi University Quota : The candidate must have passed final for MD MS M.B.B.S examination Diploma Course) and BDS examination for MDS Course) from the University of Delhi and must have completed satisfactorily one year rotating internship as on 31.03.2020 and must have submit their internship completion certificate at the time of The eligibility for Central Institutes will be as per admission brochure 2020 21 of Guru Gobind University. For more information please refer to their website www.ipu.ac.in . Affiliated to IP ABVIMS VMMC ES IC) As per the above it is clear that in order to avail of a PG seat in Delhi University Quota the candidate must have passed his her final M.B.B.S. from Delhi University. 15. Insofar as the registration form itself is concerned unfortunately the registration form of the MCC merely asks for the quota in which the candidate is applying and there is no field available for the candidate to W.P.(C) 4755 2020 mention the college and the University from where he she has completed their M.B.B.S. In the absence of such a field there is a responsibility on the candidates as also the authorities to ensure that the candidates who apply for the quota are eligible before allotments are made. This however has not happened in the present case. 16. The Delhi University Quota is available to students who have completed their M.B.B.S. from DU. The Petitioner is clearly not qualified for the Delhi University Quota. The Petitioner at best was entitled to a seat in the All India Quota or in the State Quota for Kerala depending upon his rank. In the All India Quota the Petitioner was not allotted any seat owing to the fact that his rank was beyond 35 000. In the State Quota he was allotted a seat in the mop up round however owing to his seat in MAMC he gave up the State Quota allotment. The conclusion of this conundrum is that the Petitioner has not been able to obtain any seat in any medical college for his post graduate studies. Owing to the fact that the Petitioner does not satisfy the eligibility for being considered in DU quota the relief sought is not tenable. 17. The judgement in Duddugunta Vishnu Priya is clearly distinguishable inasmuch as in the said judgment the Court held that the Petitioner therein had been offered a seat strictly as per her rank. There was a technical glitch due to which the Petitioner therein was not allotted the course of her choice. Under such circumstances the Court held that due to the technical error the Petitioner should not be made to suffer. She was a high ranking student to whom the seat was directed to be allotted as per her rank. However this is not so in the present case. Clearly as per the rank of the Petitioner the Petitioner would not be entitled to a seat in MAMC. W.P.(C) 4755 2020 In addition this Court is of the opinion that this confusion could have been averted if there were proper checks in place at different levels of counselling. The checks ought to have been installed at the time of registration and prior to allotment in the first round. Since there were no checks and partly due to the Petitioner’s fault he has been put in this situation. The Court while being empathetic with the position in which the Petitioner currently finds himself however cannot direct confirmation of his admission in MAMC under the Delhi University Quota. Accordingly the relief sought for for confirming the Petitioner’s admission in MD Pathology) in MAMC cannot be granted. 19. However the additional documents which have been placed on record clearly show that the Petitioner was allotted a seat in SMC under the private self financing quota in MD Psychiatry which is a seat in a clinical course. The State of Kerala is represented before this Court. It is submitted by ld. counsels for parties that the last date of counselling has been extended to 31st August 2020. Owing to the predicament of the Petitioner and the peculiar facts of this case the State of Kerala shall allot any unfilled seat to the Petitioner in a post graduate medical course to enable him to take admission on or before 31st August 2020. 20. For the future in order to avoid a situation as has arisen in the present case the following directions are passed: i) At the time of registration for counselling there shall be a specific field which candidates would be required to fill up with details of the college and the University from where they have completed their M.B.B.S. course. ii) Upon the said field being incorporated the system should be W.P.(C) 4755 2020 designed in such a manner that only those quotas for which the candidates are eligible would be made available to the candidates. For example if the candidate has completed the M.B.B.S. course from Kerala and the name of the college is filed up along with the name of the University the Delhi University quota should not be made available to such a candidate. This would ensure that the complexity created due to the presence of various quotas in counselling is eliminated. This would also ensure that candidates are not put through gruelling circumstances in the course of the counselling which takes place over a period of three to four months every year. iii) After registration prior to allotment of seats the data submitted by candidates shall be cross verified with the data available with MCC so that wrong allotments are not made. 21. Mr. G. Prakash ld. counsel shall communicate this order today itself so that the Petitioner can be allotted any vacant seat within the State of Kerala under the State Quota. 22. With these observations the present petition and all pending applications are disposed of. This order is passed in the peculiar facts of this case and shall not be treated as a precedent. PRATHIBA M. SINGH AUGUST 25 2020 W.P.(C) 4755 2020 

Summary: The court is of the opinion that this confusion could have been averted if there were proper checks in place at different levels of counselling. The checks ought to have been installed at the time of registration and prior to allotment in the first round. The present petition and all pending applications are disposed of. This order is passed in the peculiar facts of this case and shall not be treated as a precedent. The Hon’ble High Court at Delhi in Dr Machat Balakrishnan Menon V. Medical Council Committee &amp; Ors. [W.P. (C) 4755/2020], issued guidelines for admission in the Medical PG exam, in the wake of a petition filed by an aggrieved student who sought admission in college despite filling under the wrong quota. The facts relating to this case is: Court rejected the petitioner’s plea but also stated that the situation could have been avoided had there been proper checks in place at different levels of counselling. The Petitioner who is a doctor from Kerala University of Health studies filed a petition to preserve his admission at the Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC). He holds an EWS certificate and appeared for the NEET exam in January under All India Quota, Central Inst. Quota and the Delhi University (DU) Quota. He was allotted a college in the first round but did not take admission to the college. Again in the second round, he did not get any allotment but in the mop-up round, he was allotted MD in MAMC. He took admission but later admission was cancelled because he wrongfully submitted to DU quota. Despite appealing to authorities he did not receive any action and thus approached the court. The Hon’ble Court ruled that “The Court while being empathetic with the position in which the Petitioner currently finds himself, however, cannot direct confirmation of his admission in MAMC under the Delhi University Quota. Accordingly, the relief sought for, for confirming the Petitioner’s admission in MD (Pathology) in MAMC cannot be granted”. The Court further directed the state of Kerala to allot any unfilled seat to the Petitioner in a post-graduate medical course owing to the predicament of the petitioner and also the fact that the deadline of the counselling of the same was postponed.