Nagpur: Nagpur bench of Bombay high court has rejected the plea filed by four girls who alleged that they were forcibly allotted a seat under the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) Quota, where a whopping fee of Rs34 lakh/year is charged.
A division bench comprising justices Bhushan Dharmadhikari and Zaka Haq refused to entertain their contentions after the respondents proved that all four girls, who were admitted into city-based NKP Salve Institute of Medical Sciences (NKPSIMS), had indeed exercised the option of NRI seat while filling up of application forms.
After filing the case, petitioners — Nidhi Pantawane, Vaishnavi Jirafe, Riya Meshram and Gayatri Bandhirkar — on Monday filed a civil application in HC through their counsel Sanjay Bramhe, stating that indicating choice of NRI quota is an inadvertent error.
The judges however, dismissed their arguments clarifying that from the facts pleaded, no such inference is possible in the matter. “We’ve looked into the choices exercised by four petitioners as is evident from the annexures with the petition. The choices appear to be with some deliberations and can’t be labelled as an inadvertent error,” they said.
Contending that they never opted for the NRI quota, the petitioners accused State Common Entrance Test Cell of allotting them seats under it. They pointed out that the fees in medical colleges for NRI seat is Rs34 lakh/year irrespective of their categories. However, those for OBC category is Rs4.84 lakh in semi-government colleges and Rs19,000 in government-run ones. For SC/ST students the fees are Rs19,000 in all colleges.
Claiming that they were neither informed not issued any notice, they prayed for quashing the allotment list where they were granted seats under the NRI quota and directives to the respondents to admit them in state quota in same or any other college.
The judges however noted that petitioners filed case in roving effort after having realized that there is scope for taking admission in state quota. “The NEET-UG-018 notice shows that a candidate has to take admission in allotted college and thereafter, s/he can participate in further rounds for betterment of choice. The petitioners haven’t taken admission and time given to them for confirming the seat, is also over.”
The girls earlier made a request to permit them to participate in mop up rounds. However NKPIMS counsel Nahush Khubalkar pointed out that as they hadn’t taken admission in allotted colleges, they can’t aspire even for mop up seats. We, in present matter, do not find any case made out warranting intervention in writ jurisdiction,” the HC said before rejecting their plea.
