Re-examine M Phil admission criteria, High Court directs GMCH-32

Saurabh Malik

Chandigarh, November 17

The Punjab and Haryana High Court has called for a re-examination of admission criteria that resulted in ousting a student, who completed graduation in Chandigarh, but was deemed ineligible for admission in M Phil in UT quota solely based on obtaining a master’s degree from outside.

The direction by the Division Bench of Acting Chief Justice Ritu Bahri and Justice Nidhi Gupta came on a petition challenging seat allotment for M Phil (Clinical Psychology) at Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh.

“Direction is being given to the respondents to re-examine the criteria as to how a student who has studied till graduation in Chandigarh can be held ineligible in Chandigarh quota only on the ground that he/she done her master’s degree from outside Chandigarh. A report in this regard be submitted to this court on or before the next date of hearing,” the Bench asserted.

The Bench also directed provisional admission for the student, while making it clear that the matter was not to be treated as a precedent. Elaborating, the Bench asserted the petitioner’s prayer for provisional admission was being examined keeping in view a vacant seat and the fact that she had scored 81 marks in the entrance examination, while the last candidate in the Chandigarh quota had got 77 marks. Besides, she had done her schooling and graduation in Chandigarh,

In her petition through advocates Raman B Garg and Mayank Garg with counsel Pallavi Gujral, petitioner Rajita Kaushal had initially referred to the prospectus for the 2023 session before contending that 85 per cent of the seats were reserved for candidates from the UT pool. The category included candidates with Chandigarh background. Another criterion was that the candidates must have passed qualifying examinations from the college/institutions situated in the UT.