A medical student, who had been granted MBBS admission in the Narendra Modi Medical College, has moved the Gujarat High Court after her seat was declared vacant for failing to submit a Provisional Admission Order at the help desk as required under the relevant rules [Patel Stuti Viashalkumar v Union of India & Ors].

As per the procedure, after medical college counseling, a successful candidate is given a Provisional Allotment Order for the allotted college.

Upon payment of the fees, the student is then given a Provisional Admission Order. The same is required to be submitted to the help centre of the college. After the submission of this document, the admission is reported in the system, and the seat is shown as filled up.

The petitioner (MBBS student), however, had started attending the classes without submitting the document at the help centre, leading to the cancellation of her admission. She has called it a bonafide mistake, while seeking a sympathetic view from the Court to save her career.

When the matter was heard by the Court on Friday (November 14), Justice Nirzar S Desai observed that the student should have shown the presence of mind. It also noted that students had earlier been made aware about the admission procedure. 

“There is a very thin line of margin between sympathy and misplaced sympathy… There is a difference between a child and an adult. A student seeking admission to a medical course is expected to be mature enough to know the procedure,” the Court said.

The judge added that a medical student cannot take a defence that she has committed a blunder. 

“Suppose if upon becoming a doctor, instead of X medicine, she administers Y medicine, then it would put some person’s life in jeopardy. My sympathy is with her, but at the same time, you cannot argue that it was done by a clerk. When all other students have followed the same procedure, there was no reason for the clerk to hold back your documents,” the Court said.

A day earlier, on November 13, the Court had directed that in case the petitioner’s seat was yet to be allotted to any other candidate, it should be kept vacant.

On Friday, the Court extended the interim order, as it directed the listing of the case on September 17.

“It is a matter of the career of someone. It is unfortunate that a student is required to fight for admission in medical course because those seats are limited. I understand it must go to someone and not remain vacant but at the same time if a person is meritorious … and for some mistake which cannot be attributed to some malpractice, she also must be given a fair chance to go through the affidavit [of respondents],” the Bench said.

Meanwhile, the State's counsel pointed out that the petitioner herself had earlier taken an appointment for the document submission at the help center, but failed to submit it.

“She herself has taken the date, time,” the counsel added.

The petitioner's counsel replied that this fact backs the student's submission that it was a case where she made a bonafide mistake.

“It won’t be termed a bonafide mistake. It is carelessness, not a bonafide mistake," the Court, however, remarked.

The Court added that there was no room for misunderstanding, as instructions for students were available even in the vernacular language.

Considering that the State's affidavit in response to the plea was filed at the eleventh hour, the Court eventually allowed the petitioner’s counsel to go through it and prepare her case.

The matter was then adjourned till November 17.

Additional Advocate General Manisha Lavkumar Shah with advocates Kanva Antani, Harsheel Shukla, Anuj Trivedi and Vikas Nair represented the respondents.