Bombay High Court Rejects Petition Seeking Transfer to Preferred Medical College Despite Existing Admission

“This is NOT a case of a student who has not got admission to an MBBS course. This is a case of a student who has secured admission in ‘A’ government MBBS college but still insists on admission in ‘B’ government MBBS college by dislodging other students.” - Bombay High Court

Court Disapproves of Attempts to Dislodge Fellow Students for Personal Preference

The Bombay High Court, in a significant ruling on February 27, 2025, dismissed a writ petition filed by an MBBS aspirant seeking transfer from Government Medical College, Nagpur, to Topiwala National Medical College, Mumbai (Nair Medical College). The petitioner, Akhilesh Kalyan Chothe, had secured admission in Nagpur but sought a seat in Mumbai, arguing that a seat was wrongly allotted to a lower-ranked candidate. A division bench of Justices A.S. Chandurkar and M.M. Sathaye firmly rejected the plea, emphasizing that “desperation of students and their parents for admission to MBBS course ‘from a particular college’ is palpable.”

The petitioner, a resident of a hilly area in Maharashtra, secured 666 marks in NEET-UG 2024 and ranked AIR 14874. He participated in the admission process under the 85% state quota and claimed eligibility under the Hilly Area (HA) reservation category. After multiple rounds of the Common Admission Process (CAP), he was allotted Government Medical College, Nagpur, and filed a retention form confirming his admission.

The dispute arose when another candidate, Namisha Jayant Dhake (AIR 16549), was allotted a seat at Nair Medical College under the HA Open Women Category, while another student, Samruddhi Kishor Deshmukh (AIR 7519), was allotted the HA Open seat. The petitioner contended that Ms. Deshmukh should have been given the HA Open Women seat, thereby freeing up the HA Open seat for him.

The court rejected the petitioner’s arguments, affirming that the admission process was conducted per the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission to the Full-Time Professional Undergraduate Medical and Dental Courses) Rules, 2016. It upheld the principle that “as between Hilly Area reservation and Women reservation, preference will have to be given to Women reservation being a horizontal reservation as also being a specified reservation.”

The court also noted that the petitioner, having already filed a retention form, could not challenge the admission of another student: “A candidate who has submitted a Status Retention Form shall not be allowed to withdraw the same. Such rules are necessary for giving finality to the admission process, which handles lakhs of aspiring students every year.”

Dismissal of Allegations and Reaffirmation of Rule-Based Admissions

Rejecting allegations of irregularities in the stray vacancy round, the court observed that Nair Medical College had reported a vacant seat only on November 25, 2024, and it was filled through proper procedures. It dismissed the petitioner’s claim that another student with a lower AIR (30233) had wrongly secured admission in a later round.

The bench took a stern view of attempts to manipulate the system for personal benefit, stating: “Our society has reached a point where unsuspecting innocent students are sought to be dislodged from their admissions in MBBS colleges at the hands of a fellow student. It is unfortunate but true.”

Judicial Time Must Not Be Wasted on Individual PreferencesThe High Court unequivocally ruled against the petitioner’s plea, stating, “We place on record our disapproval for taking precious judicial time of this Court in an effort to seek allotment in ‘a particular government college’ when the Petitioner is already allotted a seat in ‘another government medical college’.”

The petition was dismissed, along with the interim application, without costs.

Date of Decision: February 27, 2025