Bombay HC says petition challenging alternative medicine admission rules has “strong, arguable case’

The petitioner submitted in court through advocate Rahul Kamerkar that CAP Round II and Round III were finalised before the beginning of CAP for MBBS admissions. The result was that those candidates who secured top-ranking colleges in alternative medicine courses and later also secured admissions in MBBS courses gave up their previous seats, leaving them vacant.

As clause 11.2.9.1 of the information brochure prevents candidates who had secured a seat in the previous round from participating in the stray vacancy round, candidates like the petitioner, who had to settle for lower ranking colleges in the CAP rounds, are not eligible for the vacancy round. In contrast, candidates scoring comparatively lower marks, who had not been assigned any seats in the previous rounds, are now offered higher-ranking seats.

The court noted that these were ‘fortuitous circumstances’ and that clause 11.2.9.1 was ‘create(ing) a dichotomy’ in the admission process. The court wrote, “Having noticed that the Petitioner has a strong arguable case against the disqualification clause under Clause 11.2.9.1, we permit the Petitioner to prepare the additional pleadings, grounds, and prayer clauses for amending the petition.”