MBBS student seeking spot on NRI quota list, HC relieves

The Gujarat high court on Monday ordered the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) under the Directorate General of Health Services to reconsider the case of MBBS Swara Kiran Bhatt and give her an opportunity to be included in the merit list of eligible candidates for NEET, PG Round 3 under the NRI quota, as she failed to upload one mandatory document the NRI sponsor's passbook at the time of application.

While instructing MCC to consider Bhatt's candidature, Justice Nirzar Desai also asked her to deposit Rs 1 lakh with the HC legal services committee because a student was the one who said that she would make the donation of the money even if she finally did not get admission in PG courses.

As per the facts of the case, Bhatt completed her MBBS on an NRI seat, which was sponsored by her maternal aunt. She appeared for NEET, PG 2025 and got an All-India Rank of 1, 80, 339, and her score was way above the cut, off marks.

When she applied for the PG courses, she failed to upload the sponsor's passbook. This resulted in rejection of her candidature, and she approached the HC seeking a direction to MCC to include her name in the NRI eligible list and permit her participation in counselling.

It was submitted that though she could not upload the sponsor's passbook, a mandatory document to be supplied for eligibility in the NRI quota, she sent the document by email to the authority on Jan 30. The omission was a minor lacuna and must not cost the student her career.

MCC's counsel Ankit Shah opposed the petition, stating that the admission process substantially progressed and the counselling window was set to close on Monday noon, when the arguments took place. He maintained that non-uploading of the sponsor's passbook justified non-consideration of her candidature. After the hearing, the high court said, "It is expected that a person who already became a doctor and aspires to become a specialist would adhere to and maintain the requisite precision and be absolutely meticulous while uploading the application form. However, such a minor mistake of failing to upload a single document ought not to result in a lifetime regret for a student like the petitioner."

The HC directed the authorities "to consider the case of the petitioner in the merit list, if the petitioner is otherwise found eligible". They were ordered not to reject her claim for a PG NEET seat solely on account of the lacuna of the failure to upload the passbook of the sponsor while filling up the PG NEET application form.