LAWS(DLH)-2022-7-98

DR. ABHINAV KUMAR Vs. UNION OF INDIA

Decided On July 29, 2022
Dr. Abhinav Kumar Appellant
V/S
UNION OF INDIA Respondents

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The Petitioner before this Court has filed the present petition under Article 226 read with Article 227 of the Constitution of India, for quashment of Regulation 9(3) of the Postgraduate Medical Education (Amendment) Regulations, 2018 (as amended on 5/4/2018) to the extent that it provides for minimum marks of 50th percentile as a mandatory requirement for admission to postgraduate courses, on the ground that the said requirement is arbitrary, unjustified and contrary to Article 14, Article 19 (1)(g) and Article 21 of the Constitution of India.

(2.) The facts of the case reveal that the petition has been filed as a Public Interest Litigation by three doctors seeking admission into postgraduate courses. The Petitioner No.1 obtained his MBBS Degree in the year 2018 and appeared in the NEET PG Entrance Test on 5/1/2020. He secured 180 marks in the NEET PG Entrance Test, and is working at GB Pant Hospital. The Petitioner No.2 obtained his MBBS Degree in June 2018 and, thereafter, appeared in the NEET PG Entrance Test, scoring 108 marks. Similarly, the Petitioner No.3 also appeared in the NEET PG Entrance Test and scored 160 marks. He is also working at GB Pant Hospital.

(3.) The Petitioners' contention is that the Medical Council of India (MCI) introduced an All-India Entrance Examination called as National Eligibility-cum Entrance Test (NEET) for admission to MBBS and postgraduate courses by amending the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations on 21/12/2010. The Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations were again amended on 15/2/2012, and the percentile system was introduced which provided that in order to obtain admission to a postgraduate course in an academic year, a student must obtain minimum marks at 50th Percentile in the NEET.