Major Relief: High Court directs DGHS to give MD Medicine seat to deserving candidate

New Delhi - Ruling that meritorious candidates should not be made to suffer due to bonafide human error or error in the computer, the Delhi High Court has directed the DGHS to rectify the wrongful allotment of seats and grant admission to MD General Medicine course to a doctor.

The bench of honourable Justice Jayant Nath has ordered the Directorate General of Health Services to grant a seat in MD General Medicine course at Rohtak Medical college on merit to the doctor, who was given admission inadvertently in an MD Microbiology which she did not apply for in the NEET PG Counselling Round 1 and 2. It is not clear whether this happened due to human error or technical glitch. 

The plea urging the rectification in the seat allotment was moved to the Delhi HC wherein the petitioner Dr Duddugunta Vishnu Priya, submitted that she had secured rank 553 in All India Quota in NEET PG 2020-21 and was wrongly allotted MD Microbiology seat instead of the opted course of MD General Medicine.

The counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioner said that in the first round of counselling, she was allotted provisional allotment for All India Quota in general category with Grant Medical College at Mumbai in MD General Medicine course. She had also deposited online fees of Rs 1.12 lakh for admission to the course.

However to upgrade her seat and for opting a better college, she participated in the second round of counselling on June 11 and opted for 8 institutions for a common department, MD General Medicine.

On June 15, she received a provisional allotment letter in round-II and was shocked to know that she had been allotted University College of Medical Sciences with the MD Microbiology course in general category instead of MD General Medicine.

It was contended that the doctor has never opted for MD Microbiology in round I or II and there seemed to be an inadvertent mistake or technical glitch due to which in the second round, her choice at serial no, 3 was wrongly noted as University College of Medical Sciences course MD Microbiology.

The counsel stressed that given the rank of the doctor in the exam, that is 553, she would be eligible in the normal course to admission in University College of Medical Sciences in MD General Medicine and she had also protested to the authorities after getting the provisional allotment letter for MD Microbiology course.

The counsel for the petitioner then relied upon the judgments in cases alike to plead that in similar circumstances the petitioners in those matters were granted relief and were not deprived of their choices on account of inadvertent or bonafide error.

On the other hand, the Directorate General of Health Services, in its affidavit, said the petitioner had filled a total of 9 choices during round-II of choice filling and as per her choice adopted for MD Microbiology in University College of Medicinal Science, New Delhi at option no.3, she was allotted the same by the computer-generated process the seat.

Justice Jayant Nath noted that a seat has been retained by the DGHS, which comes under the central government, in MD General Medicine course at Rohtak Medical College on account of the high court's earlier interim order.

The judge held that the petitioner is entitled to this seat as per her rank of the merit list and accordingly observed:

"The petitioner should not be made to suffer on account of a bonafide human error or error in the computer. This is especially so when no prejudice is caused to any other candidates in the sense that the petitioner is getting what she is entitled to as per her rank in the examination. She has been offered a seat strictly as per her rank."

"Keeping in account the fact that it is an inadvertent and bona fide mistake and also the fact that the petitioner has a rank of 553 and is entitled to be admitted to the course, which is now available, namely, MD General Medicine at Rohtak Medical College on merit, it would be in the interest of justice that respondent No.1 (Directorate General of Health Services) may grant the said seat to the petitioner. It is ordered accordingly," the court said.

The counsel for the authorities then told the bench that the PG medical candidate can forthwith complete the formalities as the seat is readily available and they will comply with the normal procedure while granting admission to her in Pt BD Sharma, Medical College, Rohtak.

Attached below is the judgment in detail:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/pdf_upload-131353.pdf