Jammu & Kashmir High Court
In Wp(C) No. 2176/2024 vs Eva Kumari And Others on 6 June, 2025
Author: Rajnesh Oswal
Bench: Rajnesh Oswal
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HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH
AT JAMMU
Reserved on 28.05.2025
Pronounced on 06.06.2025
CJ Court
LPA No. 95/2025
In WP(C) No. 2176/2024
Chairperson J&K, Board of Professional ...Petitioner(s)/Appellant(s)
Entrance Examinations, Jammu
Through: Mr. Sumeet Bhatia, GA
v/s
Eva Kumari and others .... Respondent(s)
Through: Mr. Achal Sharma, Adv. for
caveator/respondent No. 1
CORAM: HON'BLE THE CHIEF JUSTICE
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJNESH OSWAL, JUDGE.
JUDGMENT
Per Oswal-J
1. With the appearance of Mr. Achal Sharma, learned counsel for respondent
No. 1, caveat stands discharged.
2. The respondent No. 1, a tribal girl, resident of remote Village of Sial Sui,
Tehsil Kalakote, District Rajouri, by dint of sheer hard work and
dedication succeeded in getting her name figured in the provisional merit
list of NEET(UG)-2024 belonging to Union Territory of J&K and Ladakh
issued vide Notification No. 084-BOPEE of 2024 dated 25.08.2024. But
due to failed online transaction for payment of Rs. 1,500/- as the
prerequisite for participation in counselling, she was not allowed to
participate in the 1stcounseling for admission to MBBS/BDS course. As a
consequence thereof, she could not find a place in the provisional select list
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issued by the appellants vide notification No. 093-BOPEE of 2024 dated
03.09.2024 despite the fact that she had secured 500 marks whereas the
candidate having 475 marks was selected in ST(ii) category. This
prompted respondent No. 1 to knock the doors of the Court with the writ
petition bearing WP(C) No. 2176/2024 for directing the appellants to
process her case and to place her in the select list at due place in view of
her merit and eligibility and admit her in the MBBS course after allotment
of College as per the preferences made by her in application form. A
prayer was also made by the respondent No. 1 for directing the appellants
to place her in the second selection list against any available vacancy of
ST(ii) in view of her merit and eligibility and admit her in the MBBS
course after allotment of college as per preferences made by her in
application form. It was pleaded by respondent No.1 that after her name
figured in the provisional merit list, her father went to a Cyber Cafe to
deposit Rs.1,500/- as a fee with the BOPEE and after the transaction was
done, acknowledgement was also issued to her father. When her name was
not found in the provisional merit list dated 03.09.2024, she approached
the appellants but was told that an email was sent to her on 31.08.2024 at
her email address, whereby she was informed to deposit Rs.1,500/-.
Respondent No. 1, in fact, was under bona fide belief that fee had been
paid from her side and she also could not come across any such e-mail sent
by the office of the appellants to her. Respondent No.1 also pleaded that
she may also be considered for the second selection list which was to be
issued after 06.09.2024. The learned writ court vide its interim order dated
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LPA Nos. 95/2025
05.09.2024 directed the appellants to reserve one under the ST(ii) category
in the Government Medical College, Jammu for MBBS course and
respondent No.1 was allowed to participate in the counseling process.
3. The appellants, in the month of November-2024, came up with their
response to object the claim of respondent No.1, by stating that an ample
opportunity was provided to the respondent No.1 to deposit the requisite
fee in reference to notification dated 27.08.2024 but she failed to take any
step towards fulfilling the mandatory requirement and now through the
medium of writ petition, the respondent No.1 has come up with an after-
thought story to gain undue advantage in her favour. It was also stated that
it was specifically mentioned in the notification No. 086-BOPEE dated
27.08.2024 that the candidates shall have to pay online counseling fee of
Rs. 1,500/- as mentioned in e-Information Brochure NEET(UG)-2024. In
e-Information Brochure of 2024 for MBBS/BDS, there was a stipulation
that the candidate shall not be eligible for counseling if the candidate
failed to pay online fee prescribed by the Board. As the respondent No.1
had failed to pay the requisite fee, an email was sent on 31.08.2024 at 6.47
PM on her personal e-mail ID but despite that no fee was deposited.
Resultantly, her candidature was not considered for final selection on
03.09.2024.
4. Learned writ court, after hearing the learned counsel for the parties, vide
its judgment dated 03.02.2025 allowed the writ petition preferred by the
respondent No.1 and directed the appellants to accommodate the
respondent No.1 for the ongoing MBBS course in the Government
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LPA Nos. 95/2025
Medical College, Jammu, so as to save her, suffering not only loss of seat
which she has deservingly earned on the basis of her merit but also a loss
of precious one year.
5. The appellants have assailed the aforesaid judgment passed by the learned
writ court on the same grounds as urged by them before the writ court that
fault, if any, was of the respondent No.1 and they had already laid CM No.
6010/2024 before the learned writ court for modification of interim order
dated 05.09.2024 but the learned Single Judge did not consider the same. It
is also urged by the appellants that besides respondent No.1, 18 other
candidates also had not deposited the fee, and they were accordingly
informed to deposit the requisite fee through email. While 05 candidates
responded to the mail and deposited the prescribed fee within the
stipulated time and they were allowed to participate in counseling,
respondent No.1 did not choose to respond along with other candidates
and as such, their candidature was rejected. The appellants have also
objected to the observations made by the learned writ court that it was
done to accommodate a blue-eyed candidate.
6. Mr. Sumeet Bhatia, learned GA representing the appellants has
vehemently argued that both in e-Information Brochure for NEET(UG)-
2024 and in the notification dated 27.08.2024, the candidates were duly
informed that they were under obligation to deposit Rs.1,500/- as
counseling fee and in the event of non-payment of the fee of Rs.1,500/-,
their candidature shall not be considered. He has submitted that as per own
documentary evidence placed on record by the respondent No.1
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LPA Nos. 95/2025
herself in the form of receipt of online transaction, the payment status has
been mentioned as invalid transaction on Card, as such, it was within the
knowledge of respondent No. 1 that she had not made the payment of Rs.
1,500/-. Mr. Bhatia further has further submitted that the learned writ court
could not have issued directions to the appellants to accommodate
respondent No.1 for the ongoing MBBS course in the Government
Medical College, Jammu particularly when the selection process was time
specific and the courses in the colleges had already commenced.
7. Mr. Achal Sharma, learned counsel for the appellant has argued that the
respondent No. 1 was having abona fide belief that a fee of Rs.1,500/- has
been deposited but in fact, the online transaction had failed. He has further
submitted that the learned writ court has rightly passed the judgment and
there is neither any illegality nor infirmity in the same.
8. Heard learned counsel for the parties, perused the record.
9. It goes without saying that many students in the Science Stream have the
dream of becoming either a Doctor or an Engineer and they burn midnight
oil to come out with flying colours in the highly competitive examination
conducted on the national level in the form of NEET/JEE respectively.
10. The respondent No. 1 is admittedly a Scheduled Tribe-ii candidate who
vied with others to find a place in the merit list of NEET(UG)-2024 for
admission to MBBS/BDS course. Respondent No.1, in fact, succeeded and
found a deserving place in the provisional merit list issued vide
notification No. 084/BOPEE dated 25.08.2024.
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LPA Nos. 95/2025
11. Article 15 of the Constitution of India provides that there should be no
discrimination on the basis of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth and
at the same time, leaves the State free for making special provision for the
advancement of socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or
for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. A special provision has
been made for the benefit of Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes so as to
bring them at par with the other citizens of India to ensure that the equality
is achieved in real sense. Depriving a Scheduled Tribe student, a resident
of far-flung village of border District of Rajouri, chance of becoming a
doctor just because of failure of online transaction would defeat the very
essence of the Constitution. This is true that there was a stipulation in the
notification dated 27.08.2024 as well as in the e-Brochure of NEET(UG)-
2024 that a candidate was required to deposit Rs. 1,500/- online fee and
failure to do so would entail rejection of the candidature but at the same
time, we find that the father of respondent No.1travelled to the Cyber Café
to deposit the amount of Rs. 1,500/- but the online transaction failed for
unknown reasons. It is not that no effort was made by respondent No.1 to
pay online fee of Rs.1,500.
12. We are in perfect agreement with the observations made by the learned
writ court that the provision of nonpayment of fee resulting into rejection
of the candidature, would only apply in a case where the candidate does
not venture out to deposit fee but here is the case where the father of the
respondent No.1 did his best to pay Rs.1,500/- through Cyber Cafe but for
one reason or another, the amount could not be paid due to failure of
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LPA Nos. 95/2025
online transaction. Just because of failure of online transaction, respondent
No.1 cannot be blamed for not having deposited the counseling fee as
required by the appellants.
13. The record depicts that respondent No.1 participated in the second round
of counseling but there was no seat of her choice available in the ST(ii)
category. In CM No. 7039/2024 preferred before the writ court, it was
stated that the respondent No.1 submitted counseling form along with
prescribed fee of Rs.1,500/- and she was allowed to participate in the
counseling but as there was no short fall of seat received in ST(ii) (female
category MBBS course), the respondent No.1 could not be admitted for
MBBS course.
14. If we accept the contention of the appellants and deprive respondent No. 1
a Scheduled Tribe female student, an opportunity to undergo MBBS
course, just because of technical failure of online transaction, we would be
failing in our constitutional obligation to uphold the majesty of the
Constitution, and more particularly Article 14 and 15 of the Constitution
of India. After having gone through the judgment passed by the learned
writ court, we find that the writ court has rightly considered the matter but
at the same time, we find that in view of the judgment of the Hon’ble
Apex Court in S. Kishna Sradha v State of Andhra Pradesh and others
2020 AIR SC 47, respondent No. 1 was required to be admitted for MBBS
course in Government Medical College, Jammu in the next academic year,
as the admissions stand already completed and the students have already
undergone the course for more than 8 months.
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Accordingly, the judgment of the writ court is modified to the extent that
the appellants are directed to admit respondent No. 1 for MBBS course in
Government Medical College, Jammu in the next academic year and they
are further directed to take up the matter with the concerned authority to
increase one seat of MBBS under the ST(ii) category for the next
academic session.
15. Accordingly, the instant appeal is disposed of by modifying the impugned
judgment in the manner hereinabove.
(RAJNESH OSWAL) (ARUN PALLI)
JUDGE CHIEF JUSTICE
Jammu:
06.06.2025
Rakesh
Whether the order is speaking: Yes/No
Whether the order is reportable: Yes/No
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