SC grants relief to medical student who had not completed rural duty

The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted temporary relief to an MBBS doctor who was denied permission to take the Postgraduate Medical Course (CET) exams as she had not completed the mandatory one-year rural service. The move comes a week after the Bombay High Court upheld the decision of the authorities.

A division bench of Justice Dipak Misra and Justice A M Khanwilkar, while issuing notice to the authorities, allowed Dr Shubhra Srivastava to participate in the medical counselling process without insisting on the rural service bond.

Advocate Ravindra Lokhande, who represented Dr Srivastava, both in the Supreme Court and High Court, claimed that since she had got admission in the MBBS programme in 2009, she should be eligible to appear for the exams. The eligibility criteria for mandatory rural service was introduced in 2011.

Last week, the Bombay High Court had rejected the petition saying that “It is not in dispute that the Petitioner was admitted in the MBBS course in the year 2009. For the eligibility to appear in the Postgraduate PGM Course the criteria fixed for PGM course will only apply.”

However, the court after going through the criteria and the fact that the petitioner had appeared for the entrance exams twice in 2015 and 2016 and failed both time said, “The petitioner is attempting to take the exam for the third time. It is unreasonable to not let her sit because of the eligibility criteria,” the court said.