ANANYA SHARMA vs ALL INDIA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES

,,,

REKHA PALLI, J (ORAL)",,,

1.Vide the present petition, the petitioner, who is a MBBS doctor having passed MBBS from Lady Hardinge Medical college, New Delhi in",,,

December, 2015 and having appeared in the Post-Graduate Medical Entrance Examination conducted by the respondent/Institute on 12.11.2017 for",,,

January, 2018 Session, has prayed for a direction to the respondent to grant the seat of M.D. (Dermatology) allocated to her on the basis of her All",,,

India Rank in the aforesaid entrance examination, which seat had been duly accepted by her in first round of counselling itself. Â",,,

2.Mr.Mukul Gupta, learned Senior Counsel for the Petitioner submits that the respondent/Institute which was till the year 2018 conducting only",,,

physical counselling, had for the first time in November, 2017, decided to introduce online counselling for the P.G.courses w.e.f. for the Academic",,,

Session of January, 2018. Â",,,

3.In support of his aforesaid contention, he draws my attention to the notification dated 18.11.2017 issued by respondent, the relevant extract thereof",,,

reads as under:-,,,

“ AIIMS, New Delhi has initiated the process for Online/Computer Based Counseling for admission to various Postgraduate Courses (MD/MS/6",,,

Yrs DM/6Yrs MCh/MDS) in AIIMS New Delhi, Bhopal, Bhubaneswar, Jodhpur, Raipur, Rishikesh for the January 2018 Session. Since this",,,

mode of counseling is being introduced for the first time, should there be any unfortunate delay in implementation of the Online/Computer Based",,,

Counselling due to unforeseen circumstances, then Physical Counselling, requiring personal appearance at AIIMS, New Delhi tentatively on 7th",,,

December 2017, 18th December 2017 and 23rd February 2018 (for First, Second and Open Rounds respectively), shall be carried out. The candidates",,,

should therefore make arrangements for such eventualities accordingly. However it is expected that such a situation shall be exceptional.â€​,,,

4.Mr.Gupta submits that the aforesaid notification dated 18.11.2017, was followed by issuance of a notice dated 01.12.2017, wherein it was reiterated",,,

that the respondent had decided to proceed with online/computer based counselling for allocation of seat for admission to various P.G. courses in the,,,

AIIMS for January, 2018 session. He submits that the said notice was followed by three further notices dated 15.12.2017, 01.01.2018 & 11.01.2018",,,

to the same effect. 5. While drawing my attention to the notice dated 01.01.2018, Mr.Gupta submits that the said notice, while laying down the",,,

schedule given for first round of counseling, made it very clear that after the result for seat allocation of first round of counselling is announced on",,,

11.01.2018, the candidate allocated seat of his/her choice was not required to take any further steps and there was only a provision for a candidate to",,,

‘actively refuse’ the seat allotted to him/her in the first round of counselling on or before 5 p.m. on 15.01.2018.,,,

6.Mr.Gupta further submits that based on her merit, the petitioner was duly allocated a seat in M.D. (Dermatology) in the first round of counselling,",,,

the result whereof was announced on 11.01.2018. He submits that after announcing the result of the first counselling, the respondent had vide its",,,

subsequent notice dated 11.01.2018, for the first time prescribed that every candidate allocated a seat in the first round of counselling, should visit the",,,

website and actively exercise one of the four options, which included accepting the allocated seat, the petitioner was unable to do so due to a technical",,,

problem in the website of the respondent.,,,

7.Mr.Gupta further submits that since the petitioner was unable to actively exercise the option to 'once again' accept the allocated seat on or before,,,

15.01.2018, due to technical problems in the website of the respondents, she remained under the bona fide belief that since she had, according to the",,,

earlier notices, not submitted any 'active refusal', she would automatically be granted admission in the seat allocated to her on 11.01.2018 i.e. when the",,,

result of the seat allocation in respect of first counselling was announced. In support of his contention that there were technical problems in the,,,

website of the respondents, he, by drawing my attention to the application written by other two candidates, contends that other students were also",,,

unable to access the website of the respondent and were compelled to send an e-mail to the respondent to remove the technical problem in the,,,

website.,,,

8.Learned Senior Counsel submits that in these circumstances, the petitioner went to the office of the respondent on 17.01.2018 to deposit her original",,,

documents, which were duly accepted with a subsequent endorsement that “the following certificates are retained by the academic section after",,,

confirmation of the seatâ€​.,,,

9.Mr.Gupta submits that after the petitioner had duly submitted her original documents against a proper receipt, she was finally able to access the",,,

website of the respondent on 18.01.2018, when she was shocked to learn that the offer made to her stood cancelled on the ground that she had not",,,

accepted the admission offer. He submits that the petitioner immediately visited the office of the respondent, but did not get any satisfactory",,,

response and in these circumstances, the petitioner has preferred the present petition on 22.01.2018, which was listed before the Court on 22.01.2018",,,

itself.,,,

10.On 22.01.2018, this Court while issuing notice, had passed interim orders directing the respondents to keep one seat of M.D. (Dermatology) vacant",,,

in the academic session beginning from January, 2018. The said interim order is continuing till date.",,,

11.Upon notice, the respondent has filed a detailed counter affidavit opposing the petition. Mr.V.S.R. Krishna, learned counsel for the respondent",,,

contends that the plea set up by the petitioner that the petitioner was under a bona fide belief that since she had not entered any „active refusal‟,,,

after 11.01.2018, she was automatically entitled to get admission in the seat allotted to her on 11.01.2018, was wholly false. He submits that the",,,

petitioner was well aware of the notice dated 11.01.2018 which enjoined her to once again actively exercise one of the four options which included,,,

accepting the allocated seat by 5 p.m. on 15.01.2018. Mr.Krishna contends that the petitioner was personally informed vide communication dated,,,

11.01.2018 about the requirement to „actively accept‟ the allocated seat on or before 5.00 p.m. on 15.01.2018. He further submits that the plea,,,

of the petitioner that there was some technical problem with website of the respondent is without any basis and contends that there was no technical,,,

problem in the website of the respondent.,,,

12.Mr.Krishna submits that the in view of the aforesaid provision requiring a candidate to 'actively accept'Â the allocated seat on or before 5 p.m. on,,,

15.01.2018, which condition the petitioner has admittedly not fulfilled, she does not deserve any sympathy from this Court only on the ground that she",,,

is a meritorious candidate and was initially allocated a seat in M.D. (Dermatology) in the respondent/Institute.,,,

13.By placing reliance on the login details, Mr. Krishna submits that in fact there was no effort by the petitioner to login to the website of the",,,

respondent on or after 13.01.2018 and, therefore, on this ground also he contends that the plea of the petitioner, that there was some technical problem",,,

in the website, needs to be rejected.",,,

14.I have heard learned counsels for the parties and considered their rival contentions. I find that the basic issue which arises for my consideration in,,,

the present case is, as to whether, in view of the admitted position that the various notices issued by the respondents from 18.11.2017 to 11.01.2018,",,,

 Â,Activity,Date(s),

Â,Â,Start onÂ,Closed on

5.,"Last date of Active Refusal of

allocated seat in 1st Round Â",15.01.2018 (Monday){up to 5.00 p.m.},