The Bombay High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a 17-year-old MBBS aspirant seeking admission to Topiwala National Medical College (Nair Medical College and Hospital) in Mumbai, refusing to overturn the admissions of other students. The petitioner, who had already secured a seat at Government Medical College, Nagpur, under the Hilly Area (HA) category, sought to displace students admitted to the Mumbai college, a move that drew strong criticism from the court.
The petitioner, who scored 666 marks in NEET-UG 2024 and secured an All India Rank (AIR) of 14,874, had applied under the HA Open category. During the Common Admission Process (CAP) rounds, he was allotted Government Medical College, Nagpur, despite listing Nair Medical College as his fifth preference. Dissatisfied with the allocation, he alleged that the seat distribution process was flawed and unfairly denied him a spot at Nair Medical College.
He argued that after a female candidate, initially allotted an HA Open Women seat at Nair Medical College, was upgraded to another institute, the seat should have been assigned to the next female candidate. This, in turn, would have freed up an HA Open seat, which the petitioner claimed he was entitled to. However, the State CET Cell clarified that seats reserved for female candidates cannot be reassigned to male candidates under the applicable rules.
A bench comprising Justices A.S. Chandurkar and Milind Sathaye expressed disapproval of the attempt to challenge rightful admissions, emphasizing that the case illustrated “a man’s never-ending desire for more.” The court remarked that despite securing admission to an MBBS program, the petitioner’s insistence on transferring to his preferred institution unnecessarily consumed judicial time.
“This case serves as a classic example of a man’s never-ending desire for more. The petitioner, a minor, is pursuing this petition through his father, who is apparently a doctor. Our society has reached a point where unsuspecting innocent students are sought to be displaced from their MBBS admissions by fellow students. It is unfortunate but true. The desperation of students and their parents for admission to a particular medical college is palpable,” the bench observed.
The court also highlighted a key procedural issue, stating that the petitioner had submitted a “status retention form”, formally accepting his admission at Government Medical College, Nagpur. This action made him ineligible for further rounds of counseling, as per the rules governing the medical admission process. The judges stressed that strict adherence to admission guidelines is essential to maintain fairness in a highly competitive process involving thousands of aspirants.
Additionally, the petitioner challenged the admission of another candidate to Nair Medical College in a subsequent stray vacancy round. However, the court pointed out that the latter had opted for a “free exit” earlier, making him eligible for further rounds. In contrast, the petitioner had secured and retained his allotted seat, making him ineligible for any changes.
The court strongly disapproved of such attempts to disrupt the admission process, emphasizing that judicial time should not be wasted on reassigning seats when a candidate has already secured admission in a government medical college.
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