Bombay HC directs Maharashtra govt to compensate a young girl, whose aim to pursue an MBBS course was dashed on account of irregularities by colleges and bungling on the part of authorities
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The state government has been directed by the Bombay High Court to compensate a young girl, whose aim to pursue an MBBS course was dashed on account of irregularities by colleges and bungling on the part of state government authorities. According to a report by The Times of India, Firdos Ansari, a Raigad resident had cleared her common entrance exams for MBBS admissions in 2012 and placed in the merit list.
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After applying for two colleges in Jalgaon and Solapur respectively, she discovered that the colleges failed to follow the admission schedule and rules laid down by the Supreme Court and the state government. She was thus denied admission despite being on the merit list.
A probe conducted by the Pravesh Niyantran Samiti (PNS) in January 2013 recommended that the state should cancel illegal admissions and move the apex court, seeking to conduct fresh admissions for these colleges. Since the CET rankings were only valid till September of that year, which was the cut-off for admissions, Firdos' plea seeking admissions was rejected.
She sought damages as per apex court's orders for compensation to other students, who shared her predicament. Firdos is currently in her final year of a bachelor of dentistry course.
While the state opposed the decision claiming they can't be penalised by irregularities committed by colleges, the court ruled otherwise. The HC noted that it was not open for the government to make this claim as "the state machinery had failed to implement the recommendations of the Pravesh Niyantran Samiti (PNS)".
A division bench of Justice Shantanu Kemkar and Prakash Naik stated that, denial of admission completely damaged Firdos' career and the right to practice as an MBBS doctor was taken away from her. They further said that the mental agony and distress, which she suffered during this period has made the government liable to pay public law damages to her.
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