Rajasthan HC Dismisses Appeals For Relaxation In NEET Percentile Of 2016 BDS Admissions, Directs Colleges To Pay Rs 25 Lakh To Affected Students

Ordering colleges to pay Rs 25 lakh each as compensation to the affected students, the Rajasthan High Court has dismissed the appeal against a single bench decision to discharge the students from BDS course who were admitted after giving relaxation beyond 10% and additional 5% in NEET percentile in 2016.

The division bench of Justice Yogendra Kumar Purohit and Justice Pushpendra Singh Bhati said,

“All the students, who have been admitted after giving relaxation beyond 10% and additional 5%, if not discharged, shall stand discharged from the BDS course with immediate effect.”

The court has directed that if any of these students have already been awarded a degree in BDS, the concerned college must procure the necessary documents if they have not already been procured and deposited, and submit them to the university within one month.

It also imposed the cost of 50 lakh rupees on such colleges.

"Each of such College(s), who have granted relaxation, beyond the one already granted by the respondent-State, are also liable to deposit a cost of Rs.50,00,000/- with the Rajasthan High Court Legal Services Committee (RHCLSC), Jodhpur within a period of wo months from today; the RHCLSC shall recover the same from the concerned College(s), strictly in accordance with law," said the court.

Background

The bench was hearing the batch of appeals filed by the BDS students who were granted admissions in 2016 by giving relaxation beyond 10% and 5% as after conducting counselling a large number seats had remained vacant in the dental colleges of Rajasthan.

The permission to lower down the percentile to extent of 10% and additional 5% was granted to the Federation for Private Medical and Dental Colleges of Rajasthan by the State in September, 2016, so that the optimal number of seats is filled.

However, the appellants were granted admission to the BDS course for the 2016-17 academic session by relaxing the NEET percentile beyond the limit mentioned above. As a result, candidates who were unable to qualify for NEET, were allotted seats in the college based on a reduced percentile.

In October, 2016, the Union government had requested the state to withdraw and cancel the orders pertaining to reduction in the percentile for admission in the BDS Course. Subsequently, the respondent-DCI in 2017, issued a direction for discharge of those students from the Course, who though did not qualify the NEET, but were admitted on the basis of lowering down of the percentile.

Thereafter, the Rajasthan University of Health Sciences passed an order, whereby the appellants and other similarly situated students were declared ineligible for the BDS Course, as per the eligibility criteria prescribed by the respondent-DCI.

The appellant students filed writ petitions before the Single Bench of the High Court against the decision to declare the students ineligible.

In 2018, the High Court decided that the students who have been granted admission by applying the relaxation to the extent of 10th percentile and 5th percentile shall not be disturbed and their admission stands regularized. However, the court also ruled that all students who have been admitted after giving relaxation beyond 10% and additional 5% shall stand discharged from the BDS course with immediate effect.”

Thus, being aggrieved by the judgment passed by the Single Bench, the appeals had been preferred.

Appeals

The counsel for appellants submitted that Rajasthan Dental College & Hospital addressed a letter in September 2016 to the respondent-Union of India, on the ground that there is urgency in the matter as the deadline of 30.09.2016 was approaching, and therefore, the minimum qualifying marks in NEET 2016 ought to be reduced appropriately.

It was argued that the Union of India forwarded the representation of the Federation to the state government, for taking the necessary action, as deemed fit. The Union of India delegated its powers of taking decision in the matter regarding relaxation in percentile to the state, as the representation of the Federation was relating to relaxation in percentile for the purpose of admissions in the BDS Course, the court was told.

Therefore, it is clear that the decision taken by the state government, upon being delegated the necessary powers by the Union of India in that regard, does not suffer from any infirmity or ambiguity, the counsel argued.

It was also submitted that looking into the large number of unfilled seats in the BDS Course, the Union of India has already lowered down the percentile many-a-times, owing to the interests of the student community. Therefore, the entire action of the State in lowering down the percentile for admissions in the BDS Course was justified, it was submitted. 

The counsel relied upon the Apex Court case of Harshit Agarwal and Ors.v Vs. Union of India (UOI) and Ors to argue that methodology of lowering down of the percentile was devised every year, until the seats are filled.

It was further submitted that the purpose of the NEET Examination is not to decide the respective merit of the students, and thus, once the exam was conducted and seats were still lying vacant, then lowering down of the percentile for the purpose of filling up such vacant seats was justified.

On the other hand, counsel for respondents opposed the submissions made on behalf of the appellants and submitted that the NEET examination was introduced in the country in 2016, with an object of enhancing the standards of education in the field of medical science.

It was also submitted that the Union of India in its letter clearly stated that the recommendation of lowering down the percentile was not acceptable on the ground that there were sufficient numbers of candidates available to fill the vacant seats of the BDS Course.

Verdict

The division bench said the entire action of the state government, as taken by it, upon delegation of the requisite power by the Union of India "itself, is justified in the eye of law, because the Union of India itself stated that 'necessary action as deemed fit'."

"This Court further observes that lowering down of the percentile by the respondent-State to the extent of 10 % and additionally by 5 percentile in exercise of the delegated power by the respondent-Union, as mentioned in the aforementioned factual matrix, clear reveals that beyond the same, no further relaxation can be extended to any candidate aspiring to pursue the BDS Course in the State of Rajasthan," it added.

The bench said the Colleges in question, for the purpose of giving admissions to the candidates against the vacant seats in the BDS Course, have granted relaxation beyond the one already granted by the State but such action cannot at all be acceptable, and sustainable in the eye of law, "as, if such relaxation is accepted and sustained, the same would have adverse impact upon the high and uniform standards in the field of medical education."

Case Title:Harsh Raj Verma & ors. v.State Of Rajasthan & ors.

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