Bombay High Court Decision on MBBS Admission

Mumbai: Refusing to interfere in legislative decisions, the Bombay High Court recently denied relief to an aspirant who sought MBBS admission under Maharashtra state quota this year.

The petitioner approached the court as she wanted to get admission in a private medical college via State Medical quota but authorities denied allowing her in the state quota and instructed her to seek admission via All India Quota as she did not complete her SSC (class 10) under the Maharashtra board. Hence, the medical aspirant turned towards the High Court for redressal.

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The petitioner stated that she has completed her Higher Secondary (HSC, class 12) from Maharashtra State Board after which she appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test in June this year. She has secured 97.8 percentile in the examination. The petitioner also stated that she is a meritorious student and she has scored a high percentile in the NEET exam also following which she sought medical admission under state quota.

As per the rules mentioned in the brochure this year, the medical aspirant can only avail of the state quota if the student has appeared in the SSC exam from Maharashtra Board. Though the petitioner has completed her Higher Secondary from Maharashtra and she is also a domicile of the state, she has completed her SSC from Madhya Pradesh and not from Maharashtra board, hence she cannot avail admission under state quota.

The counsel for state government A R Kale opposed the plea stating that the mandatory criteria of passing SSC from Maharashtra Board has been made in 2016. Moreover, the decision was taken after due discussion and consideration by the authorities and as it was a legislative decision or a policy-making decision, the court must not interfere in it.

According to The Indian Express, after receiving the submission of both the parties, a bench of justice comprising justice Sunil P Deshmukh and Justice Shrikant Kulkarni stated that the court should not interfere in the matter as it concerns a legislative decision which was taken by the authorities in 2016 concerning admission process in medical colleges.

Rejecting relief to the student, the court said in its order,

"It would be worthwhile to note that time and again the apex court has observed that in academic matters the courts should not ordinarily interfere. Looking at the area in which we are called upon to tread, it is difficult for us to indulge into the request being made on behalf of the petitioner."