Gauhati High Court orders admission of OBC Ex-TGL in MBBS course 2024–25

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: The Gauhati High Court ordered the state government to admit an Other Backward Classes (OBC) Ex-TGL or Ex-Tea Garden Labourer candidate in the MBBS course at Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, in the next session, on 2024–25. The court also ordered the state government to provide him Rs 1 lakh in compensation for the loss of one academic year.

Delivering its verdict in a case (WP(C)/7103/2023), the single judge bench of Justice Kardak Ete directed the state government to grant admission to the candidate in the next academic session by creating an extra seat in the MBBS course, on the ground that the said candidate was illegally deprived of his admission.

The candidate initially secured admission in the said course, but later his name was removed from a revised list, prompting him to file the petition with the HC.

The petitioner, belonging to the OBC Ex-TGL community, a recognized backward community in Assam, scored 417 marks in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for undergraduates 2023 (NEET-UG-2023) and was selected pursuant to the admission notice dated September 3, 2023, and later admitted to the 1st year MBBS course at Assam Medical College, Dibrugarh, on September 7, 2023.

But, to his utter surprise, the Director of Medical Education, Assam, cancelled the earlier notices with another admission notice dated September 29, 2023, and purportedly revised the select list of the selected candidates, after which the name of the petitioner was dropped.

Being aggrieved, the petitioner approached the HC by filing an earlier writ petition, which was disposed of on October 12, 2023, directing the petitioner to appear before the State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee with the necessary documents to establish his claim on October 16, 2023, while the said Committee was directed to verify and take a decision.

But the State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee did not take any decision, and the petitioner was on the verge of losing his seat in the 1st year MBBS course in 2023 at Assam Medical College (AMC), Dibrugarh. This prompted the petitioner to file the present writ petition.

Meanwhile, the State Level Caste Scrutiny Committee, after its meetings on December 29, 2023, and December 30, 2023, arrived at the finding that the petitioner’s claim is genuine and that he belongs to the OBC Ex-TGL community.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner submitted that it was confirmed by the competent authorities that the petitioner belongs to the Ex-TGL category and is entitled to continue his MBBS course at AMC, Dibrugarh. It was further argued that, as he has lost one precious year without any fault on his part, the petitioner should be provided monetary compensation.

The Health Department’s Standing Counsel submitted that there is no option left but to follow the SC case of S. Krishna Sradha v. State of Andhra Pradesh and Ors.

So, the court directed the authorities to grant admission to the petitioner in the next academic year, i.e., 2024-2025, by increasing the number of seats in AMC, Dibrugarh, and also that the admission fees deposited by the petitioner at the time of admission be adjusted in the next admission.

The court also ruled that “....this court deems it appropriate to grant compensation to the petitioner for the loss of one precious academic year of the 1st year MBBS course for no fault on his part. Accordingly, state respondents are directed to pay an amount of Rs. 100,000/- (Rs. 1 lakh) only to the petitioner as compensation within 6 weeks from the date of receipt of a certified copy of the order.”

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