ASHWANI KUMAR Vs. CENTRAL BOARD OF SECONDARY EDUCATION

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners before this Court appeared in National Eligibility-cum- Entrance Test(NEET) 2013 for admission to MBBS/BDS Courses. The result of the aforesaid test was declared on 5th June, 2013. Vide Notification published in the newspapers on 1st June, 2013, University of Delhi, Faculty of Medical Science notified that the Bulletin of Information for admission to MBBS/BDS Courses under 85% DU quota for the Session 2013-14, based on the marks/merits of NEET(UG) 2013, would be available from 10th May, 2013 to 10th June, 2013. The application form could also be downloaded from the website of University as well as website of Faculty of Medical Science and sent to the Deputy Registrar, Faculty of Medical Science along with the Demand Draft of prescribed amount. The grievance of the petitioners before this Court is that since the Bulletin of Information issued by the Central Board of Secondary Education did not contain any requirement of applying separately to the University for admission to MBBS/BDS courses, they were not aware of the aforesaid requirement and consequently, did not apply to the University within the time limit fixed for this purpose. Consequent to representation received from various students, the Faculty of Medical Science, vide decision dated 19th June, 2013 extended the time for submission of the application forms for admission to the aforesaid courses upto 28 th June, 2013. This decision was taken considering the representations made by the candidates/their parents seeking acceptance of application forms beyond 10th June, 2013 on various grounds. The aforesaid decision to extend the date upto 28 th June, 2013, however, was not published in newspaper though it was uploaded on the website of the Faculty of Medical Science.

(2.) THE petitioners before this Court claim that since they were not in Delhi and were not in a position to reach Delhi in time, they could not apply to the University on or before 28th June, 2013. They submit that had they been aware of the requirement to apply separately to the University, they would not have left Delhi. They have, on returning to Delhi, applied to the University but their applications are still pending with the University and they have not been allowed to appear in the counselling for admission to the aforesaid courses.

(3.) THE counselling is scheduled to commence on 22nd July, 2013. The merit list prepared by the University containing the names of the students who have been asked to appear in the counseling and prepared on the basis of the applications received upto 28th June, 2013 has already been uploaded on the website of the Faculty of Medical Science.