New Delhi: The apex court has revoked the postgraduate admission of seven dental science students’ stating that their covert admissions were unlawful and cannot be justified.
The pleas of colleges and students asking for the continuation of the course or declaration of their course results were dismissed by the court.
“Once it is found that the respective original writ petitioners were granted admissions illegally and their admissions are backdoor, thereafter to allow them to continue their course shall be perpetuating the illegality,” said the bench comprising justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh, quashing the admissions of seven Chhattisgarh students, taken in 2018.
To apply the top court’s rulings, the institution’s or the student’s plea to finish their degree does not need to be accepted, said the bench.
The Supreme Court noted that even if the colleges were left with vacant seats on the last date of admission, institutions had no right to grant admissions unilaterally and without informing the Directorate of Medical Education in Raipur, Chhattisgarh.
Nothing on record indicates that any other students were allowed to apply for admission in the respective institutions/colleges for admission on the seats that remained vacant, according to the bench. “It is not appreciable how the original writ petitioners came to know that at 4:30 p.m. on May 31, 2018, the seats have remained vacant in the institutions/colleges. The only inference can be that the institutions and the students were hands in glove and the students got admissions illegally,” it added.
Remnants after the Mop Up round
The bench stated that the original writ petitioners participated in the mop-up round of counselling but were unable to secure admission on merit in the respective colleges/institutions, where they later gained admission through the backdoor. “The submission on behalf of the private institutions and even the students that they were meritorious students and the merit is not given go-bye cannot be accepted”, it noted.
The bench stated that all of the original writ petitioners continued their studies/courses following the interim order issued by the high court, and the state government promptly decided to annul/cancel their admissions because their admissions were completely illegal.
“The High Court ought not to have passed such an interim order directing to grant admissions or continue with admission/course. The interim order passed by the High Court is not legally sustainable. As per the settled position of law, nobody can be permitted to take the advantage of the order passed by the Courts,” said the bench.
The Supreme Court granted the Dental Council of India’s appeal and overturned the Chhattisgarh High Court’s interim order. Dentist Sailendra Sharma and six others were not allotted PG seats even in the mop round, but they were admitted to PG courses after the deadline expired.
The relevant authorities issued an official communication canceling the admissions, which was challenged in the high court. The Dental Council of India filed an appeal with the Supreme Court, challenging the high court’s decision.
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