Apex Court Permits Announcement of Results for AYUSH Students Admitted Without NEET.
The Supreme Court has permitted the announcement of results for undergraduate AYUSH students who were admitted without taking the NEET UG-2019 exam, even though it deemed their admissions improper. Justices Sudhanshu Dhulia and K. Vinod Chandran stated that while the colleges should not have admitted students who did not qualify for NEET, not releasing their exam results or degrees now would create significant difficulties since they have completed their courses. The Court noted, “Although these students should not have been admitted without taking the NEET exam, they have finished their studies, and withholding their results or degrees would cause them great hardship.”
This situation arose when students who were admitted to AYUSH undergraduate programs without taking NEET UG-2019 contested the cancellation of their admissions. They claimed they were unaware of the NEET requirement due to a lack of notice. A Single Judge of the High Court had previously allowed their admissions, citing insufficient publicity about the NEET requirement for AYUSH courses. However, the Calcutta High Court’s Division Bench overturned this decision, pointing out that the Union of India had published a notice on November 7, 2018, stating that NEET qualification was necessary for AYUSH admissions. The Division Bench concluded that other students had met this requirement and dismissed the petitioners’ claims of inadequate notice. The affected students then took their case to the Supreme Court, which had earlier allowed them to sit for their first-semester exams while delaying the release of their results.
On February 12, the Court canceled its earlier stay order from April 19, 2021, and ordered the release of the students’ results. The Court found that although the admissions had legal issues, the students had finished their courses, so it was unfair to keep their results or degrees from them. As a result, the Special Leave Petition was resolved, giving relief to the students who filed it.
Cause Title: Ebtesham Khatoon v. Union of India [Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 6658/2021]
