Safiya Malik

The Andhra Pradesh High Court has set aside the allotment of an MBBS seat at Narayana Medical College, Nellore, which had been assigned to a lower-ranked candidate while bypassing the petitioner. The court recorded that the respondent university failed to provide documentary proof justifying the allocation process and, as a result, directed that the petitioner be awarded compensation. The university was ordered to pay Rs. 7,00,000 as damages and Rs. 25,000 as costs, recognizing that the petitioner had lost the opportunity to pursue a medical degree due to procedural lapses.

The petitioner had appeared for the NEET (UG-2022) examination seeking admission into the MBBS course under the NCC Female Open Category. The petitioner stated that one seat was available under this category in Sri Venkateswara Medical College, Narayana Medical College, and Padmavathi Medical College. However, she contended that a lower-ranked candidate in both merit and NCC category ranking had been allotted the seat at Narayana Medical College in her place.

The second respondent, Dr. NTR University of Health Sciences, submitted a counter affidavit stating that the seat in question had initially been allotted to Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi under the NCC Female Open Category. It was further stated that in a subsequent round, Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi was allotted a seat at Sri Venkateswara Medical College, Tirupati, under the NCC Category. Consequently, the seat vacated at Narayana Medical College had to be reallocated to the next eligible candidate under the BC-D category. The university argued that since the petitioner did not belong to the BC-D category, the seat was assigned to the fourth respondent, who was next in line within that category. The university relied on G.O.Rt.No.159, dated November 13, 2020, to support this method of seat allocation.

In response, the petitioner contended that the seat allotment list for Phase I, issued on November 9, 2022, indicated that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi had been allotted a seat in Shantaram Medical College, Nandyal, under the BC-D category. The petitioner further stated that in a subsequent allotment made on November 27, 2022, she was given a seat in Sri Venkateswara Medical College, Tirupati, under the NCC BC-D General Category, while another candidate, Ms. Peddanagireddygari Pramodini, was allotted a seat under the NCC OC Female Category. The petitioner contended that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi had never actually occupied the seat at Narayana Medical College, and therefore, the basis for reallocating that seat to the fourth respondent was invalid.

The court examined the submissions and considered the sequence of allotments made during the admission process. The court recorded that in an earlier order dated September 20, 2023, the university had been directed to file an affidavit explaining the issue. In compliance, the university filed an additional counter affidavit on January 4, 2023, stating that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi had exercised 30 options during counseling. It was stated that she was initially allotted a seat at Shantaram Medical College, Nandyal, and was later moved to Narayana Medical College under the open category in the NCC quota. The affidavit further claimed that she was subsequently assigned a seat at Sri Venkateswara Medical College, Tirupati, during the category round, and due to this sliding process, the vacated seat at Narayana Medical College was then allotted to the fourth respondent, who belonged to the BC-D category.

The court, in an order dated April 26, 2024, directed the university to produce documentary proof demonstrating that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi had indeed been allotted the seat at Narayana Medical College. The court recorded: "It was also observed that if such letter of allotment is not produced, it would be presumed that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi was never allotted a seat in the said College and the action of the University in allotting a seat to the 4th respondent in the BC-D Category would be unsustainable."

Subsequently, on December 5, 2024, another counter affidavit was submitted by the university, reiterating the previous claims. However, the court recorded that no material had been placed before it to confirm that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi had ever been allotted a seat in Narayana Medical College prior to her reassignment to Sri Venkateswara Medical College.

The court further recorded: "The 2nd respondent, despite any number of adjournments being granted, has not produced any material or document to show that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi was allotted a seat in Narayana Medical College or that she had joined in Narayana Medical College prior to moving to M/s. S. V. Medical College."

The court observed that in the absence of such proof, it must be held that Ms. Jakkala Jahnavi had moved directly from Shantaram Medical College to Sri Venkateswara Medical College, without occupying a seat in Narayana Medical College. Consequently, the allotment of the vacated seat to the fourth respondent, bypassing the petitioner despite her higher merit ranking, was found to be legally untenable.

After examining the submissions and examining the records, the court set aside the seat allotment to the fourth respondent. The court directed the respondent university to bear the consequences of its improper allocation process and awarded costs of Rs. 25,000 to the petitioner.

The court further recorded that the petitioner had since enrolled in a dental course after being denied admission to the MBBS program. Since more than two academic years had elapsed, the court noted that it was not feasible to offer her an MBBS seat for the 2022 academic session. Instead, the court directed the university to compensate the petitioner for the loss of opportunity to pursue a medical career.

"The petitioner has lost the chance to pursue a career in the Medicine on account of the actions of the respondent-University. Though she would be entitled to a seat in Medicine for the course commencing in 2022, it would not be possible to accommodate her as more than two academic years have already passed."

In view of this, the court ordered the university to pay Rs. 7,00,000 in damages to the petitioner within two months from the date of receipt of the order. The court stated that this compensation was appropriate given the impact of the improper allocation on the petitioner’s educational future.

The court closed all pending miscellaneous petitions in connection with the case.

Case Title: Revuru Venkata Asritha vs. State of Andhra Pradesh & Ors.
Case Number: W.P. No. 38795 of 2022
Bench: Chief Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur, Justice R. Raghunandan Rao

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