REPORTABLE
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 677 OF 2016
Rishabh Choudhary .….Petitioner
versus
Union of India & Ors. ….Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 862 OF 2016
Sandeep Kumar & Anr. ….Petitioners
versus
State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. ….Respondents
J U D G M E N T
Madan B. Lokur, J.
W.P. (C) No. 677 OF 2016
1. The question for consideration in this writ petition filed under
Article 32 of the Constitution concerns the validity of admission granted
to the petitioner by respondent No.3 (C.M. Medical College & Hospital - for
short the College) to the MBBS course. In our opinion, the admission
granted by the College to the petitioner was unjustified and therefore his
admission is set aside.
2. On 21st December, 2010 a gazette notification was issued by the
Medical Council of India amending the “Regulations on Graduate Medical
Education, 1997” to the effect, inter alia, that admissions to the MBBS
course shall be based solely on marks obtained in the National Eligibility-
cum-Entrance Test (for short NEET). This notification was challenged by,
amongst others, Christian Medical College Vellore in a batch of petitions
before this Court which came to be allowed. The decision of this Court is
dated 18th July, 2013 and is reported as Christian Medical College, Vellore
& Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.[1] The gazette notification dated 21st
December, 2010 was quashed. As a result, admission of a student to the
MBBS course through NEET was no longer mandatory.
3. Subsequently, petitions were filed for a review of the decision
rendered by this Court and these review petitions ultimately came to be
referred to a Bench of five learned judges of this Court. By an order
dated 11th April, 2016 in Medical Council of India v. Christian Medical
College, Vellore & Ors.[2] the review petitions were allowed and the
decision rendered by this Court on 18th July, 2013 was recalled and it was
directed that all the matters be considered afresh.
4. Prior to this, the College wrote to the State of Chhattisgarh on or
about 29th October, 2015 seeking permission to conduct examinations for the
management quota and NRI seats for the MBBS course for the academic year
2016-17. The State of Chhattisgarh granted permission to the College to
conduct examinations by its letter dated 5th November, 2015.
5. Consequent upon the permission granted by the State of Chhattisgarh
to conduct examinations, the College issued an advertisement inviting
applications on 28th January, 2016 and eventually conducted the examination
on 3rd April, 2016. The examination called CGMAT-2016 was monitored by the
State of Chhattisgarh and according to the College as well as the State
there were no irregularities in the conduct of the examination.
6. The result of the examination was declared on 11th April, 2016 and
the petitioner qualified in the examination. On 19th April, 2016 that is
after this Court had decided to review its decision and had recalled the
judgment dated 18th July, 2013, counseling was conducted for the petitioner
and he was granted admission for the MBBS course by the College after all
formalities were completed.
7. At this stage, it may be mentioned that the Medical Council of India
published a notification in 2015 amending the “Regulations on Graduate
Medical Education, 1997” whereby a time schedule for completion of the
admission process for First MBBS Course was prescribed. This notification
is reproduced and the Schedule given therein was approved in Ashish Ranjan
v. Union of India[3] decided on 18th January, 2016. As per the prescribed
schedule, the conduct of entrance examination was to take place between 1st
and 7th May and the result of the qualifying examination/entrance
examination was to be declared by 1st June. In other words, the
examination conducted by the College on 3rd April, 2016 being CGMAT-2016
was in defiance of the notification issued by the Medical Council of India,
and the schedule approved by this Court. Similarly, admission granted to
the petitioner on 19th April, 2016 was notwithstanding the orders of this
Court passed on 11th April, 2016 read with the notification dated 21st
December, 2010 and the schedule prescribed by the Medical Council of India.
8. There are a few other orders passed by this Court which are of some
significance. On 28th April, 2016 it was directed by this Court in Sankalp
Charitable Trust & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.[4] that NEET Phase I would
be held in terms of the notification dated 21st December, 2010 issued by
the Medical Council of India. The All India Pre-Medical Test would be held
on 1st May, 2016. Thereafter, Phase II of NEET for the left out candidates
would be held on 24th July, 2016. It was made clear that since the
judgment and order dated 18th July, 2013 had been recalled, the
notification dated 21st December, 2010 was in operation.
9. By an order dated 6th May, 2016 in Sankalp Charitable Trust it was
made clear that no examination shall be permitted to be held for admission
for MBBS studies by any private college or association or any
private/deemed University.
10. Subsequently on 9th May, 2016 this Court declined to modify the order
dated 28th April, 2016. An order was also passed making it clear that all
such candidates who could not appear in NEET-I and those who had appeared
but had an apprehension that they had not prepared well, would be permitted
to appear in NEET-II subject to an option from these candidates to give up
their candidature for NEET-1. It was further clarified that only NEET would
enable students to get admission to MBBS studies.
11. In view of all these orders passed by this Court from time to time,
it is more than abundantly clear that the notification dated 21st December,
2010 stood resurrected and that admissions to the MBBS course could only
through NEET-I and NEET-II. No other process of admission was permissible.
Given this background, the Director of Medical Education in Chhattisgarh
wrote to the College on or about 13th July, 2016 to take steps to cancel
all the admissions made by the College in terms of the examination CGMAT –
2016 held for students for the management quota and NRI quota. Eventually
by a letter dated 28th July, 2016 the Director of Medical Education in
Chhattisgarh recommended to the College to cancel admissions made to the
MBBS course. This prompted the petitioner to file a writ petition in this
Court.
12. It is submitted and prayed by the petitioner that since he had
already been granted admission by the College after the examination CGMAT-
2016 was conducted by the College and supervised and monitored by the State
of Chhattisgarh and in which there were no allegations of impropriety, his
admission should not be disturbed. It is submitted that the petitioner
was certainly not at fault and there is no reason why he should be the
victim of an apparent wrong committed by the College as also by the State
of Chhattisgarh.
13. We have considered the submissions made by learned counsel appearing
on behalf of the petitioner and the College supporting him but are not
inclined to accept them. It is quite clear that the examination CGMAT-2016
was conducted by the College on 3rd April, 2016 contrary to the schedule
prescribed by the Medical Council of India (and approved by this Court) for
holding the MBBS entrance examinations. The question is not of any
impropriety in the conduct of the examination but the question is really
one of adhering to a particular discipline laid down by the Medical Council
of India and approved by this Court.
14. Furthermore we find that counseling was carried out insofar as the
petitioner is concerned on 19th April, 2016 which is after the decision of
this Court on 11th April, 2016 recalling the decision dated 18th July,
2013. There was absolutely no occasion for the College to have conducted
the counseling after the recall order passed by this Court on 11th April,
2016. The effect of the recall order, as mentioned above, was that the
notification issued by the Medical Council of India on 21st December, 2010
effectively stood revived in the sense that NEET was the only option
available for admission to the MBBS course. The College and the State of
Chhattisgarh ought to have been aware of these facts, but seem to have
turned a blind eye not only to the orders of this Court but to the
notifications issued by the Medical Council of India.
15. The question before this Court is not who is to be blamed for the
present state of affairs - whether it is the students or the College or the
State of Chhattisgarh. The question is really whether the rule of law
should prevail or not. In our opinion, the answer is unambiguously in the
affirmative. The College and the State of Chhattisgarh have not adhered
to the law with the result that the petitioner became a victim of
circumstances giving him a cause of action to proceed against the College
and the State of Chhattisgarh being a victim of their maladministration.
The plight of the petitioner is unfortunate but it cannot be helped.
16. We were told during the course of submissions that some similarly
placed students participated in NEET and qualified in the examination.
Those students like the petitioner who did not participate in NEET and
placed their trust only in the College and the State of Chhattisgarh took a
gamble and that gamble has unfortunately not succeeded. While our
sympathies may be with the petitioner and similarly placed students, we
cannot go contrary to the orders passed by this Court from time to time
only for their benefit.
17. Under the circumstances, we find no ground has been made out for
granting relief to the petitioner. There is no merit in this writ petition
and it is accordingly dismissed. However, we make it clear that the
petitioner is at liberty to proceed against the College and the State of
Chhattisgarh in any appropriate manner.
W.P. (C) No. 862 OF 2016
18. We find no reason to entertain this petition under Article 32 of the
Constitution and it is accordingly dismissed.
19. In view of the order passed in the writ petition the application for
impleadment stands disposed of.
…………………………..J
( Madan B. Lokur
)
New Delhi ………………………….J.
January 23, 2017 ( Prafulla C. Pant )
-----------------------
[1] [2] (2014) 2 SCC 305
[3] [4] (2016) 4 SCC 342
[5] [6] (2016) 11 SCC 225
[7] [8] (2016) 7 SCC 487
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 677 OF 2016
Rishabh Choudhary .….Petitioner
versus
Union of India & Ors. ….Respondents
WITH
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 862 OF 2016
Sandeep Kumar & Anr. ….Petitioners
versus
State of Chhattisgarh & Ors. ….Respondents
J U D G M E N T
Madan B. Lokur, J.
W.P. (C) No. 677 OF 2016
1. The question for consideration in this writ petition filed under
Article 32 of the Constitution concerns the validity of admission granted
to the petitioner by respondent No.3 (C.M. Medical College & Hospital - for
short the College) to the MBBS course. In our opinion, the admission
granted by the College to the petitioner was unjustified and therefore his
admission is set aside.
2. On 21st December, 2010 a gazette notification was issued by the
Medical Council of India amending the “Regulations on Graduate Medical
Education, 1997” to the effect, inter alia, that admissions to the MBBS
course shall be based solely on marks obtained in the National Eligibility-
cum-Entrance Test (for short NEET). This notification was challenged by,
amongst others, Christian Medical College Vellore in a batch of petitions
before this Court which came to be allowed. The decision of this Court is
dated 18th July, 2013 and is reported as Christian Medical College, Vellore
& Ors. v. Union of India & Ors.[1] The gazette notification dated 21st
December, 2010 was quashed. As a result, admission of a student to the
MBBS course through NEET was no longer mandatory.
3. Subsequently, petitions were filed for a review of the decision
rendered by this Court and these review petitions ultimately came to be
referred to a Bench of five learned judges of this Court. By an order
dated 11th April, 2016 in Medical Council of India v. Christian Medical
College, Vellore & Ors.[2] the review petitions were allowed and the
decision rendered by this Court on 18th July, 2013 was recalled and it was
directed that all the matters be considered afresh.
4. Prior to this, the College wrote to the State of Chhattisgarh on or
about 29th October, 2015 seeking permission to conduct examinations for the
management quota and NRI seats for the MBBS course for the academic year
2016-17. The State of Chhattisgarh granted permission to the College to
conduct examinations by its letter dated 5th November, 2015.
5. Consequent upon the permission granted by the State of Chhattisgarh
to conduct examinations, the College issued an advertisement inviting
applications on 28th January, 2016 and eventually conducted the examination
on 3rd April, 2016. The examination called CGMAT-2016 was monitored by the
State of Chhattisgarh and according to the College as well as the State
there were no irregularities in the conduct of the examination.
6. The result of the examination was declared on 11th April, 2016 and
the petitioner qualified in the examination. On 19th April, 2016 that is
after this Court had decided to review its decision and had recalled the
judgment dated 18th July, 2013, counseling was conducted for the petitioner
and he was granted admission for the MBBS course by the College after all
formalities were completed.
7. At this stage, it may be mentioned that the Medical Council of India
published a notification in 2015 amending the “Regulations on Graduate
Medical Education, 1997” whereby a time schedule for completion of the
admission process for First MBBS Course was prescribed. This notification
is reproduced and the Schedule given therein was approved in Ashish Ranjan
v. Union of India[3] decided on 18th January, 2016. As per the prescribed
schedule, the conduct of entrance examination was to take place between 1st
and 7th May and the result of the qualifying examination/entrance
examination was to be declared by 1st June. In other words, the
examination conducted by the College on 3rd April, 2016 being CGMAT-2016
was in defiance of the notification issued by the Medical Council of India,
and the schedule approved by this Court. Similarly, admission granted to
the petitioner on 19th April, 2016 was notwithstanding the orders of this
Court passed on 11th April, 2016 read with the notification dated 21st
December, 2010 and the schedule prescribed by the Medical Council of India.
8. There are a few other orders passed by this Court which are of some
significance. On 28th April, 2016 it was directed by this Court in Sankalp
Charitable Trust & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.[4] that NEET Phase I would
be held in terms of the notification dated 21st December, 2010 issued by
the Medical Council of India. The All India Pre-Medical Test would be held
on 1st May, 2016. Thereafter, Phase II of NEET for the left out candidates
would be held on 24th July, 2016. It was made clear that since the
judgment and order dated 18th July, 2013 had been recalled, the
notification dated 21st December, 2010 was in operation.
9. By an order dated 6th May, 2016 in Sankalp Charitable Trust it was
made clear that no examination shall be permitted to be held for admission
for MBBS studies by any private college or association or any
private/deemed University.
10. Subsequently on 9th May, 2016 this Court declined to modify the order
dated 28th April, 2016. An order was also passed making it clear that all
such candidates who could not appear in NEET-I and those who had appeared
but had an apprehension that they had not prepared well, would be permitted
to appear in NEET-II subject to an option from these candidates to give up
their candidature for NEET-1. It was further clarified that only NEET would
enable students to get admission to MBBS studies.
11. In view of all these orders passed by this Court from time to time,
it is more than abundantly clear that the notification dated 21st December,
2010 stood resurrected and that admissions to the MBBS course could only
through NEET-I and NEET-II. No other process of admission was permissible.
Given this background, the Director of Medical Education in Chhattisgarh
wrote to the College on or about 13th July, 2016 to take steps to cancel
all the admissions made by the College in terms of the examination CGMAT –
2016 held for students for the management quota and NRI quota. Eventually
by a letter dated 28th July, 2016 the Director of Medical Education in
Chhattisgarh recommended to the College to cancel admissions made to the
MBBS course. This prompted the petitioner to file a writ petition in this
Court.
12. It is submitted and prayed by the petitioner that since he had
already been granted admission by the College after the examination CGMAT-
2016 was conducted by the College and supervised and monitored by the State
of Chhattisgarh and in which there were no allegations of impropriety, his
admission should not be disturbed. It is submitted that the petitioner
was certainly not at fault and there is no reason why he should be the
victim of an apparent wrong committed by the College as also by the State
of Chhattisgarh.
13. We have considered the submissions made by learned counsel appearing
on behalf of the petitioner and the College supporting him but are not
inclined to accept them. It is quite clear that the examination CGMAT-2016
was conducted by the College on 3rd April, 2016 contrary to the schedule
prescribed by the Medical Council of India (and approved by this Court) for
holding the MBBS entrance examinations. The question is not of any
impropriety in the conduct of the examination but the question is really
one of adhering to a particular discipline laid down by the Medical Council
of India and approved by this Court.
14. Furthermore we find that counseling was carried out insofar as the
petitioner is concerned on 19th April, 2016 which is after the decision of
this Court on 11th April, 2016 recalling the decision dated 18th July,
2013. There was absolutely no occasion for the College to have conducted
the counseling after the recall order passed by this Court on 11th April,
2016. The effect of the recall order, as mentioned above, was that the
notification issued by the Medical Council of India on 21st December, 2010
effectively stood revived in the sense that NEET was the only option
available for admission to the MBBS course. The College and the State of
Chhattisgarh ought to have been aware of these facts, but seem to have
turned a blind eye not only to the orders of this Court but to the
notifications issued by the Medical Council of India.
15. The question before this Court is not who is to be blamed for the
present state of affairs - whether it is the students or the College or the
State of Chhattisgarh. The question is really whether the rule of law
should prevail or not. In our opinion, the answer is unambiguously in the
affirmative. The College and the State of Chhattisgarh have not adhered
to the law with the result that the petitioner became a victim of
circumstances giving him a cause of action to proceed against the College
and the State of Chhattisgarh being a victim of their maladministration.
The plight of the petitioner is unfortunate but it cannot be helped.
16. We were told during the course of submissions that some similarly
placed students participated in NEET and qualified in the examination.
Those students like the petitioner who did not participate in NEET and
placed their trust only in the College and the State of Chhattisgarh took a
gamble and that gamble has unfortunately not succeeded. While our
sympathies may be with the petitioner and similarly placed students, we
cannot go contrary to the orders passed by this Court from time to time
only for their benefit.
17. Under the circumstances, we find no ground has been made out for
granting relief to the petitioner. There is no merit in this writ petition
and it is accordingly dismissed. However, we make it clear that the
petitioner is at liberty to proceed against the College and the State of
Chhattisgarh in any appropriate manner.
W.P. (C) No. 862 OF 2016
18. We find no reason to entertain this petition under Article 32 of the
Constitution and it is accordingly dismissed.
19. In view of the order passed in the writ petition the application for
impleadment stands disposed of.
…………………………..J
( Madan B. Lokur
)
New Delhi ………………………….J.
January 23, 2017 ( Prafulla C. Pant )
-----------------------
[1] [2] (2014) 2 SCC 305
[3] [4] (2016) 4 SCC 342
[5] [6] (2016) 11 SCC 225
[7] [8] (2016) 7 SCC 487
