Supreme Court Judgment on Sports Quota in M.B.B.S. Admission

A landmark Supreme Court ruling has been issued regarding the Sports Quota in M.B.B.S. admissions. The case involved a dispute over the inclusion of a candidate in the wrong category, leading to a re-casting of the Rank List. The judgment addresses the balance between individual and team event categories in the Sports Quota for M.B.B.S. admission. Stay informed about the latest developments in this significant legal matter.

Facts

All India NEET-UG 2019 result declared on 6 June, 2019.
State CEE published category-wise list of candidates eligible for M.B.B.S. including Sports Quota on 28 June, 2019.
7 seats available for Sports Quota in M.B.B.S., 2 reserved for B.D.S.
High Court Judgment on 05.08.2019 directed consideration of Sujithraj U. Mallanhad for Sports (Team) List.
Writ Appeal filed by Sunisha N. S. on 07.08.2019 against the Judgment.
Division Bench set aside Single Judge’s Order and directed re-casting of Rank List for Sports (Individual) category for Sujithraj U. Mallanhad.
Implementing Single Judge’s direction at this stage would require entire admission process to be redone, deemed undesirable.
Appellant did not raise any objection to the provisional list of candidates eligible for the Sports Quota.
Appellant’s prayer was liable to be rejected as other candidates had higher marks.
Appellant filed the present Appeals against the Division Bench’s judgment without being issued notice in the Writ Appeal.
Appellant’s representation regarding the inclusion of Sujithraj Mallan in the wrong category was made after the Final List was published.
The Appellant filed the Writ Petition challenging the final list after the admission seats were allotted.
The Commissioner of Entrance Examinations declined to consider the belated communication from the Sports Council regarding the categorization issue.
Appellant’s case was based on shifting Sujithraj Mallan from the Individual Quota to the Team Quota.
Seating allotment under the Sports Quota is based on equal representation for both individual and team categories.
Marks awarded for sports proficiency are added to the NEET-UG 2019 scores for admission to Medical courses.
Out of 7 seats for M.B.B.S. under the Sports Quota, 4 seats were for the Individual event category and 3 for the Team event category.
The NEET-UG 2019 Examination was held on 05.05.2019 for admission to the M.B.B.S. course.
Sports Council allots marks based on proficiency in sports to candidates.
Appellant’s Writ Petition was considered speculative in nature.

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Analysis

The Appellant did not object to the provisional list published on 19 May, 2019 or the final list on 27 May, 2019, despite opportunities to do so.
Accepting the plea of the Appellant would impact the criteria for admission to various professional degree courses, not just the M.B.B.S. course.
The fact that the same norms for selection of candidates in the Sports category apply to other professional degree courses was not initially disclosed to the Court during the admission hearing.
These facts were revealed in the Counter Affidavit filed by the Respondent on 27 August, 2019.
It was not mentioned in the Special Leave Petition that counselling had already been completed, and all students, including the Appellant, had secured admission in various medical colleges and were undergoing the course.
The Appellant’s case is deemed an afterthought, raised belatedly in the admission process, and cannot be entertained.
The Kerala State Sports Council’s recommendation for shifting the candidate after the Final List had been released was unjustified.
The Division Bench rightly disregarded a wholly unjustified letter dated 06.07.2019.
The Appellant should have approached the Court with candour and disclosed the correct facts.
The prayer of the Appellant to consider a candidate in the Sports (Team) Quota is unsustainable on merits.
Implementing such a direction at a belated stage would require redoing the entire admission process under the Sports Quota.