Why Bombay High Court upheld MBBS degree of doctor who obtained OBC certificate on false information

The Bombay High Court last week upheld a doctor's MBBS degree, despite the fact that she was admitted to the course under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category by using unfair means [Lubna Shoukat Mujawar v. State of Maharashtra and Others]..A Bench of Justices AS Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain said,"In our country, where the ratio of the Doctors to the population is very low, any action to withdraw the qualification obtained by the Petitioner would be a national loss since the citizens of this country would be deprived of one Doctor. However, as observed by us above, the means of obtaining the admission was unfair and has deprived another eligible candidate."However, the Court clarified that the admission of the petitioner in the MBBS course would be considered in the 'Open Category' and not in the OBC category..The Court was hearing a petition challenging the termination of the petitioner's admission to an MBBS course after she obtained a false non-creamy layer OBC certificate. The petitioner, who was enrolled at the Lokmanya Tilak Municipal Medical College and Hospital in Sion for the academic year 2012-13 under the OBC category, was subject to scrutiny following a writ case disputing OBC admissions.The petitioner's father, who had obtained the said certificate, was found to have given misleading and false information to the Enquiry Committee probing such admissions. The Committee concluded that he falsified facts, including his marital status and salary statistics, owing to which the caste certificate was revoked in 2013. As a result, the petitioner's admission to the MBBS course was cancelled.Challenging the revocation, the petitioner moved the High Court, which in 2014 passed an interim order allowing her to continue her MBBS course, pending the outcome of the case..In its analysis, the Court concluded that the Enquiry Committee's decision to revoke the false certificate obtained by the petitioner's father is justified."Looked from any angle, there can be no doubt that the basis of cancelling the certificate and the admission is justified since the same was based on false, incorrect and suppression of information. Therefore, the Petitioner’s prayer to quash the communication dated 8th October 2013 is to be rejected," the Court noted.However, taking note that since the interim order of 2014, the petitioner has successfully completed her MBBS course, the Court found it appropriate to not to withdraw her qualification..Advocates DV Sutar, Anjali Shaw, Deepak Jain and Latika Kabad appeared for the petitioner.Additional Government Pleader Abhay L Patki, Senior Advocate BV Govilkar and Advocates Shaba N Khan and Mihir Govilkar appeared for the respondents..[Read Judgment]