Doctor loses prestigious AIIMS seat due to Missed Flight during counselling, moves HC
Bombay High Court
Nagpur: Challenging the stringent counselling rules of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) that led her to lose a coveted PG medical seat at the institute due to a missed flight, a candidate from Nagpur recently moved to the Bombay High Court.
Despite securing an All-India Rank of 119 in the INI-CET exam, the aspirant missed her chance to report for admission at AIIMS within the specified deadline because of a missed flight. Consequently, she was held ineligible for participating in further rounds of seat allocation.
Approaching the HC bench, the candidate challenged the Rule Nos. 3.2.2(i) and 3.2.2(ii) of the counselling rules arguing them to be "unreasonable and disproportionate".
Further, the aspirant's counsel argued that missing of the flight was an unforeseen incident and the candidate should not suffer for this. Therefore, he prayed to the Court to grant interim relief by allowing her to participate in the further rounds of the counselling.
Requesting the Deputy Solicitor General of India, Nandesh Deshpande, representing AIIMS authorities, to seek instructions, the Court had earlier listed the matter for further hearing on 31.12.2014. As per the HC's website, the matter will now be heard on 17.01.2025.
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As per the latest media report by Nagpur Trends, the petitioner is currently enrolled to a first-year MD specialisation in Radio Diagnostics at AIIMS Nagpur. Even though she secured 119th All India Rank in the INI CET exam held on November 10, 2024 for admission to PG medical courses in AIIMS instititutes, she was disqualified from participating in the subsequent rounds of seat allocation for failing to attend the initial counselling session due to a missed flight.
Even though she explained the situation to the AIIMS authorities, her request to participate in the counselling was denied. TOI has reported that her plea also highlights the financial burden imposed by the AIIMS admission process, specifically the Rs 3 lakh demand draft requirement for document substitution. Referring to this, the petitioner has claimed that it discriminates against candidates.
Apart from this, the plea also questions the transparency of AIIMS' grievance redressal mechanism and calls for a more humane approach in handling exceptional cases. According to the petitioner, strict enforcement of deadlines goes against the principle of natural justice, especially when deserving candidates like herself are penalised for reasons beyond their control.
She has contended that AIIMS counselling guidelines, particularly such strict reporting requirements are arbitrary and they infringe upon her constitutional rights under Articles 14 (right to equality), 19 (freedom of speech and expression), and 21 (right to life and personal liberty).
Her counsel argued, "The petitioner's inability to report on time due to a travel disruption should not justify barring her from future counselling rounds."
To view the HC order, click on the link below:
https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/bombay-hc-aiims-267043.pdf
