[NEET PG] Candidate Can't Claim Admissions To 2021-2022 Based On 2019 Rank Which Got Vitiated Due To Caste Certificate Discrepancy: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court recently refused to grant relief to an aspirant who claimed admission to the PG course for Academic Year 2021-2022 based on his rank in NEET PG 2019. The candidate's rank in 2019 was not considered due to a discrepancy in the surname in his caste certificate. The candidate claimed that his 2019 rank be considered for the 2021-2022 admissions.

The bench of Justices LN Rao and BR Gavai, which was considering SLP assailing Madhya Pradesh High Court's order dated March 4, 2020, said that he is certainly entitled to be treated as a Scheduled Caste candidate for 2021-2022 admissions, but his 2019 rank cannot be considered.

The High Court on March 4, 2020 had dismissed the writ on the ground that the appellant was not entitled for any relief in view of the caste certificate mentioning his name as 'M M' whereas all the other documents pertaining to NEET-PG 2019 examination show the name of the appellant as 'M G M'.

"There can be no manner of doubt that the appellant is entitled to be considered for admission to PG course for the Academic Year 2021-2022 as a scheduled caste candidate. We are unable to accept the request of the appellant that he is entitled for admission on the basis of the rank assigned to him in NEET-PG 2019 as he is responsible for applying for issuance of caste certificate with a surname different from that appearing in the other documents," the bench observed.

Factual Background

The appellant belonged to a scheduled caste category and the school admission certificate showed that he belonged to 'Mahar' caste. In 2009, the appellant changed his surname from 'X' to 'Y' and the same was published in the Maharashtra Government Gazette on July 9, 2009. On September 30, 2015 after being admitted to MBBS course without availing reservation in Maharashtra University of Health Sciences, Nasik the appellant was registered as a doctor in Maharashtra Medical Council. 

After applying for NEET PG 2019, the appellant appeared and scored AIR of 15297. He was provisionally allotted a seat in Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Medical College, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh ('the College') for admission to PG course reserved for Scheduled caste. During the verification of documents at the time of admission, it was found that his surname as mentioned in the caste certificate was 'X' whereas his surname in all other documents was 'Y'.

Although the appellant requested the College to permit him to attend the classes by furnishing an undertaking to get the caste certificate rectified, he on College's refusal to accede to his request approached the Madhya Pradesh High Court for a direction to the College to admit him in the PG course.

On May 3, 2019 the High Court granted the appellant liberty to approach the authorities to file necessary documents.

In the meanwhile, the appellant also applied for correction of his surname in the caste certificate which was rejected by the SDO, on the ground that the appellant applied for issuance of the caste certificate in the surname of 'X'.

The appellant filed an appeal to the Collector which was also not in his favour and the appellant thereafter filed a writ petition before the High Court which was dismissed on March 4, 2020on the ground that the appellant was not entitled for any relief in view of the caste certificate discrepancy.

Submission Of Counsels

Senior Advocate V. Mohanna for the appellant had submitted that the appellant could not have been denied admission on the ground that the surname of the appellant did not match in the documents that were furnished. She stated that the denial of admission to the appellant to PG course in the College based on his ranking in NEET-PG 2019 was not due to any fault of the appellant but due to a mistake committed by the authorities in not disposing of the request for change of surname expeditiously.

It was also Senior Counsel's contention that the fact that ultimately, the surname was changed in the caste certificate would show that there was no misrepresentation or fraud played by the appellant in securing the caste certificate. She further stated that even if an error was committed by him in stating his surname in the application for issuance of caste certificate, the appellant cannot be made to suffer by denial of admission to PG course for the Academic Year 2021-2022 on the basis of the his rank in NEET-PG 2019.

Referring to the Judgment in 'Kumari Madhuri Patil & Anr. v. Additional Commissioner, Tribal Development & Ors.' 1994 (6) SCC 241 Senior Counsel argued that the appellant's offer of giving an undertaking at the time of admission to get the certificate rectified should have been accepted by the College and admission should have been given to him in 2019 itself.

Additional Advocate General for the State of Madhya Pradesh Saurabh Mishra contended that the certificate that was issued in 2016 was on the basis of the application made by the appellant in which his surname was shown as 'X'. He stated that the appellant was, in any event, eligible to be considered as a scheduled caste candidate for admission to the PG course for the Academic Year 2021-2022 but was not entitled to claim admission on the basis of the rank that was assigned to him in the NEET-PG 2019.

Case: Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 17212/2021

Coram: Justices LN Rao and BR Gavai

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