'No court can pass orders contrary to regulations'- HC upholds NMC, University rules on exam attempt limit

Bengaluru: Observing that no court can pass an order contrary to the National Medical Commission (NMC) regulations and norms prescribed by any university, the Karnataka High Court recently denied relief to a medical student.

The student had filed a plea seeking a direction to the authorities to permit her to appear for the 5th time to clear the Biochemistry subject examination.

"The law is very clear in this regard. No Court can pass an order contrary to the Regulations and norms prescribed by the university. When it is clear from the petition that the Regulations of the University as well as the National Medical Council Commission would prescribe only 4 attempts for a student, this Court is not in a position to accede to the prayer made by the petitioner. Accordingly, the writ petition stands dismissed," observed the HC bench comprising Justice R Devdas.

The plea was filed by Nisha R Kolyay, a student of Dr Ambedkar Medical College and Hospital. Approaching the HC bench, the petitioner had contended that a 5th attempt may be permitted to her, although the regulation would prescribe only 4 attempts on the ground that there is only one paper remaining for her to clear.

Filing the plea under Articles 226 and 227 of the Constitution, the petitioner prayed to the Court to direct the University, medical college, NMC and others to allow her to apear in the examination to be conducted for the 1st year MBBS course in the subject of Biochemistry in particular of both paper 1 and paper 2 during the September/October 2025 as a mercy attempt (5th attempt).

"It is clear from the prayer itself that this is a mercy petition filed on the ground that there is only one paper for the petitioner to clear and therefore the prayer that fifth attempt may be permitted," observed the HC bench.

However, the Court observed that the law in this regard is very clear and courts cannot pass an order contrary to the Regulations and norms prescribed by the University as well as the NMC..

Observing that the regulations of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Medical Sciences (RGUHS) as well as the National Medical Commission (NMC) prescribe altogether 4 attempts to a student to clear the exam, the HC bench denied granting any relief to the petitioner and dismissed the plea.

To view the order, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/karnataka-hc-303518.pdf

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