SSC from a Maharashtra school not necessary to seek medical admissions, says Bombay HC

Mumbai city news: The court has now directed the DMER to not only accept the petitioners’ applications, but also let other such students apply online.

It’s students’ right to pursue educational courses they are eligible for and state can’t take it away by bringing eleventh hour changes in eligibility criteria, said the Bombay high court while directing the Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) to accept admission applications of medical aspirants who have passed SSC examinations from outside Maharashtra.

The Bombay high court said such changes in policy can be introduced only after giving appropriate notice to students. (Pic for Representation)

“Such an eleventh hour change in [eligibility] criteria is unjust, unreasonable and affects the rights of students to pursue higher studies,” said the division bench of Justices Anoop Mohta and Sunil Kotwal.

The court was hearing a petition filed by nine students after they were declared ineligible for admissions to medical courses on grounds that they have not passed SSC examinations from a school in the state. These students said they possess domicile certificates and have also cleared their HSC examination from the state.

They had challenged validity of the Clause 4.5 of the NEET Rules which required them to have passed SSC examinations from a school in Maharashtra.

Till last year the only requirement was to possess domicile certificate of Maharashtra and passing HSC exam from a junior college in the state, but the requirement of passing SSC too from Maharashtra was added for academic year 2017-18. This resulted in rejection of the online applications these nine students had filed.

The bench said that the right of pursuing higher education accrued to students “cannot be taken away by bringing such clause retrospectively”.

The court said such changes in policy can be introduced only after giving appropriate notice to students.

The court has now directed the DMER to not only accept the petitioners’ applications, but also let other such students apply online.