The Gujarat High Court recently upheld the cancellation of MBBS admission for a student belonging to a reserved category seat. Despite earlier restoration by a single-judge bench, the division bench maintained the cancellation, citing ineligibility due to caste classification discrepancies.
Gujarat: Recently, the Gujarat High Court made a decision to uphold the cancellation of the MBBS admission of a student belonging to the reserved category. The court ruled that the student did not qualify as a member of the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) in the State of Gujarat. Despite being eligible for admission in the general category, the court maintained the cancellation based on the student’s claim of reservation benefits.
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The Gujarat High Court, comprising Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P Mayee, recently upheld the cancellation of Alpeshkumar Ramsinh Rathod’s MBBS admission.
Rathod, the son of a Panipuri seller from Uttar Pradesh, had secured admission on a reserved category seat. However, it was discovered that Rathod’s caste, Teli, did not qualify as SEBC in Gujarat, as his parents originally belonged to Uttar Pradesh, where the caste falls under the Other Backward Class.
“There is no question of considering you in the open category. Once someone has claimed the benefit of reservation, he has to stand by that.”
“Once this certificate is cancelled, your admission goes automatically. No one can save your admission. Sympathy is not a ground to save admission in this kind of case,” it said.
“This kind of hope is not to be given to anyone… this was the fallout of your own deed. You knew you did not belong to the caste, your family knew,” the Court said.
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Initially, a single-judge had restored Rathod’s admission, considering his family background and academic achievements. The judge opined that Rathod would have been eligible for admission in the open category in most medical colleges and did not require caste-based reservation.
However, the division bench set-aside this decision, stating that once a person claims the benefits of reservation, they must abide by it.
The court emphasized that the cancellation was a consequence of Rathod’s own actions, as he and his family were aware that he did not belong to the SEBC caste in Gujarat. The court suggested that Rathod could have competed for admission under the reserved category in Uttar Pradesh.
Rathod’s admission was canceled in September 2023 after the authorities found irregularities in the issuance of his caste certificate.
The court expressed suspicion of fraudulent practices in obtaining the certificate and believed that sympathizing with such cases would set a wrong precedent.
The single-judge’s ruling, which highlighted Rathod’s meritorious achievements and the possibility of the seat remaining vacant, was challenged by the Admission Committee for Professional Medical Educational Courses. The division bench questioned the exercise of extraordinary discretionary jurisdiction by the single-judge, stating that it would only perpetuate illegality by granting benefits to an ineligible candidate.
“Since seats in all colleges where the petitioner could have got admission are filled in and since the admission process is long over, the petitioner in spite of scoring very high marks in the NEET (UG-2022) entrance exam would not get admission in MBBS Course,” the judge had said.
Additionally, the court stated that neither the Admission Committee nor the college authorities were at fault. The admission of an ineligible candidate denied an opportunity to an eligible SEBC candidate in Gujarat. The court also noted that none of Rathod’s family members possessed an SEBC certificate in Gujarat, emphasizing that caste is inherited from parents and cannot be acquired otherwise.
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“The achievement of a Panipuri seller’s son securing admission to an MBBS course based on merit alone is truly commendable. Additionally, the petitioner’s exceptional exam scores, except for three colleges, demonstrate the necessity for the court’s extraordinary intervention to ensure his opportunity to complete the MBBS course and prevent the seat from remaining vacant.”
