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Judgment
R Devdas, J
The petitioners in these three writ petitions are students of Post Graduate in Medicine. They are aggrieved of the fact that the respondent-University is declining to permit the petitioners to take up the examination which commences from 24.09.2025.
Learned Counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners who are admitted to the PG course in the year 2021 or prior to that and therefore they are students of 2021-22 batch or prior batch. Learned Counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners became eligible to take up the final year semester examination after completion of three years course of study during December 2024.
Learned Counsel points out to the notification dated 05.07.2025 issued by the respondent-University announcing the fee payment schedule and Time Table for conducting the Post Graduate Degree/Diploma Theory Examinations during September 2025. However, the respondent-University is seeking to deny permission for the petitioners to sit for the examination during September 2025, on the ground that the Regulations 8.1 of the Post-Graduate Medical Education Regulations, 2023, prescribes that the University shall conduct not more than two examinations in a year, for any subject, with an interval of not less than four and not more than eight months between the two examinations. It is sought to be contended at the hands of the respondent-University that examinations were held during January 2025 and May 2025 and that the petitioners herein have appeared in both the examinations and therefore they will not be permitted to participate in the examination which will be conducted during September 2025. In other words, it is sought to be contended by the respondent-University that if permitted, the petitioners will be taking up the third examination in the year contrary to the Regulations.
However, learned Counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners became eligible to take up the examination during December 2024 and the examination they took in the month of January 2025 is the second examination of the year 2024 and not the first examination of the year 2025.
It is submitted that even otherwise, the respondent-University cannot deny the fact that the first examination will be conducted normally during May every year and the second examination will be conducted during December. However, the University did not conduct the examination which was required to be conducted during December 2024 for that matter and the examination that were held during January 2025 is nothing but the second examination of the year 2024.
Learned Counsel for the respondent-University has today filed a memo enclosing a public notice dated 07.08.2024 issued by the National Medical Commission, wherein public notice is given by the Commission that the National Medical Commission vide public notice dated 13.06.2024 had requested all Universities to complete academic curriculum including conducting of final examination of Post-Graduate Board Specialty Degree by 31.12.2024 for the students who had taken admission in the academic year 2021. Representations were received from a few Universities to postpone the deadline of 31.12.2024 and accordingly, a meeting was conducted by PGME Board with all the Universities on 31.07.2024 wherein it was decided that the final examination may now be completed by 31.01.2025.
Learned Counsel for the petitioners submits that this public notice is already enclosed along with the writ petition at Annexure ‘G’ and the petitioners seek to take support of the said public notice and the said public notice in no way takes away the rights of the petitioners in seeking to write examination during September 2025.
Having heard the learned Counsel for the petitioners, learned Counsel for the respondent-University and on perusing the petition papers, this Court is of the considered opinion that there is merit in the writ petitions. The petitioners are in no way violating the requirements in terms of Regulation 8.1 which mandates that the University shall conduct not more than two examinations in a year for any subject. It is the contention of the petitioners that in the academic year 2024 the first examination was held during May 2024 and the second was supposed to have been held before December 2024, even according to the public notice earlier given by the NMC. However, as noticed in the subsequent public notice dated 07.08.2024, the PGME Board has taken a conscious decision to permit the Universities to conduct a second examination and complete the same before 31.01.2025. This would mean that the examinations which were supposed to have taken place during December 2024 was held only during January 2025. Therefore, even if the petitioners have sat for the examination during January 2025 and May 2025, it would not amount to the petitioners sitting for two examinations during the same academic year. As noticed hereinabove, the examinations that the petitioners took up during January 2025 is the second examination of the academic year 2024. The examinations which were held in May 2025 is the first examination for the academic year 2025 and therefore the petitioners are entitled to take up the second examination during September 2025.
Consequently, the writ petitions are allowed. A writ of mandamus is issued to the respondent-University to permit the petitioners to appear for the ensuing examinations which would commence from 24.09.2025.
All the procedures to be followed viz., permitting the petitioners to pay the examination fee, Hall tickets to be issued to the petitioners and the results to be announced after examinations written by the petitioners, are to be followed by the respondent-University accordingly.
Ordered accordingly.