SC Stays Karnataka HC Direction of ensuring FNB Sports Medicine admission to NBE FET Exam passout

The Apex Court division bench comprising of Justices L. Nageswara Rao and Justice Aniruddha Bose in the order dated 28.05.2021, listed the matter to be next heard after summer vacation and mentioned, "Interim stay granted by this court shall continue in the meantime."

This comes after, the Karnataka High Court division bench comprising of Justices Aravind Kumar and Pradeep Singh Yerur had directed the NBE in a judgment dated 31.03.2021, to permit the petitioner student with a rank 15, to be admitted to a Coimbatore based medical college where a candidate ranking 63 had been admitted.

However, the High Court had clarified that "in the event of said candidate with the ranking of 63 if having been already admitted, said admission shall not be disturbed for the present."

"Further, the court would also examine whether there is need and necessity for directing the respondent to hold counselling afresh insofar as all the three seats of Sports medicine ie., 67 and 80 are also required to be adjusted/ displaced in the seat allotment depending upon their allotment based on ranking," mentioned the HC order.

Also Read: NBE issues fresh advisory for Final Year DNB, DrNB, FNB trainees, Details

The issue concerns the petitioner student, who had ranked 15 at the FET 2020 examination and was eligible for the FNB course. He had participated in the online counselling also, but as the seats offered to him in the 1^st and 2^nd round of Counseling were not acceptable, the candidate opted to participate in the final (Mop-up) round of counselling.

Afterward, in the middle of the counseling process, a notice dated 11.03.2021 mentioned that only registered candidates, who had not allotted any seat during the first and second round of counseling would be eligible for final (Mop-up) round. It also mentioned that candidates who had been allotted a FNB seat in any of the two rounds of counseling, but had failed to join the allocated institution shall be ineligible for participating in the final (Mop-up) round.

Being rejected to participate in the Final (Mop-up) round, the candidate made a prayer before the High Court regarding the matter, and the HC bench after perusal of the Flow chart found out that if a candidate who is allotted a seat in the first and second round of counseling, does not accept the allotted seat, or does not make payment even after being allotted a seat, such seat would be released to the next round of counseling and such candidates would be eligible to participate in the (Mop-up) round.

Noting that the petitioner student had not accepted the seats in the first two rounds of counseling and had not even made fees for the same, the HC observed that the petitioner student would be eligible to participate in the Mop-up round.

The counsel for the petitioner further pointed out before the Court that candidates with ranks 63, 67, and 80 had also been allotted seats in three different institutions for specialty in "Sports Medicine", the stream for which the petitioner student had also applied.

Taking cognizance of the fact that the petitioner student even after securing a higher ranking had failed to get admitted, the HC bench had directed the NBE to permit the petitioner student to be admitted to a medical college that had already admitted a student securing rank 63.

However, challenging the directions, NBE approached the Apex Court and filed a Special Leave Appeal regarding the matter. Staying the HC directions for now, the Supreme Court bench has listed the matter to be next heard after summer vacation.

To view the Supreme Court order, click on the link below.

To read the order by the Karnataka High Court, click on the link below.