Bombay High Court: The present writ petition was initiated by astudent and a Dental College where she was admitted, challenging two impugned communications issued by the Dental Council of India(‘DCI’) that sought to discharge her from the MDS course on the ground of irregular admission.The Division Bench of Manish Pitale* and Y. G. Khobragade, JJ., held that the admission of the student, secured on merits through NEET-MDS 2024 counselling, could not be invalidated due to technical issues in uploading documents caused by low connectivity from heavy rainfall in the rural area where the Dental College was located. The Court quashed the DCI’s impugned communications and held that neither the student nor the Dental College was at fault.
Background:
The student, a 26-year-old dental undergraduate, had secured a seat in the Post Graduate Course i.e. MDS in Oral Medicine and Radiology through NEET-MDS 2024 special stray vacancy round. On 24-10-2024, she was allotted a seat in the Rural Dental College by the Medical Counselling Committee (‘MCC’). She immediately went to the Dental College and submitted all the required documents, affidavits, and undertakings, paid the full fees through online mode and joined the College on 24-10-2024 itself.
According to the DCI circular dated 16-10-2024, it was mandatory for Dental Colleges to upload all documents confirming student admission by midnight of 25-10-2024. The College, located in a rural area, faced connectivity failure due to heavy rainfall and could not meet the deadline. It informed DCI through a letter dated 26-10-2024, confirming the student’s admission in the stray vacancy round as per the MCC’s provisional letter, but stated that the documents could not be uploaded due to connectivity issues.
Subsequently, the Dental College again addressed a communication to the DCI on 21-11-2024 regarding the difficulty in uploading the documents pertaining to admission of the student within the stipulated period of time. However, the DCI rejected the request and through two communications dated 02-12-2024 and 18-12-2024, directed that the student be discharged from the course immediately, and threatened action against the College under Sections 10-B and 16-A of the Dentists Act, 1948 (‘the Act’).
The student argued that the documents on record clearly demonstrated that the student was validly admitted and the entire process of admission was completed on 24-10-2024 itself and it was due to the lack of connectivity, as the Dental College was located in a rural area, that the documents could not be uploaded till midnight of 25-10-2024. It was further alleged that for no fault of hers, her admission secured on merits must not to be cancelled and she should not be discharged from the MDS course since it would be a travesty of justice if the student was discharged mid-stream in the MDS course despite the fact that she secured admission on merits, on the basis of provisional admission letter issued by the MCC.
Analysis and Decision:
The Court emphasised that the student took admission in what was called the special stray vacancy round in the process of counselling conducted under NEET-MDS Counselling-2024 where the student was found to be eligible on merits for admission in the stray vacancy that arose in the Dental College. The Court further observed that the MMC issued a provisional admission letter in favour of the student under the special stray vacancy round which showed that the student was found eligible for admission to the said MDS course on merits in the stray vacancy that arose in the Dental College.
The Court noted that the Dental College made efforts to upload the documents pertaining to the admission of the student and it was due to heavy rainfall where the Dental College was located, there was no connectivity and the attempts of uploading the documents before the midnight of 25-10-2024, met with failure. The Court further observed that a screenshot had been placed on record by the Dental College showing that such an attempt to upload the documents pertaining to the admission of the student on 25-10-2024 at 06.30 p.m. also met with failure.
The Court highlighted that the along with the letter, the Dental College annexed the provisional admission letter issued by the MCC portal, allotment letter and screenshot showing the technical issue faced by the Dental College while uploading the documents. Further, it was noted that there was no response from the respondent DCI to the two communications sent by the Dental College, requesting for resolving the issue regarding the admission of the student.
The Court emphasised that while DCI could issue a circular to ensure merit-based admissions within the stipulated time, in this case, neither was the student’s admission was not on merit nor did the student or Dental College default in following the circular. The Court noted that the crucial document was the provisional admission letter issued from MCC, showing the committee offered the stray vacancy on merit, leaving no room for suspicion of irregularity or illegality. Further, the Court highlighted that merely because the documents pertaining to the admission of the student could not be uploaded on the portal DCI due to genuine difficulty of connectivity, it ought not to jeopardize the academic career of the student.
The Court emphasised that discharging the student from the MDS course would ruin her career and her desire to pursue Post Graduate qualification. The Court highlighted that the Dental College was not at fault and did not deliberately violate the DCI’s circular, hence, action under Sections 10-B and 16A of the Act would not be justified. The Court, therefore, quashed and set aside the impugned communications issued by the DCI and directed it to approve the admission of the student to the MDS course with effect from 24-10-2024, for the academic year 2024-25.
[Shubhangi Sunil Kumar Dubey v. Dental Council of India, Writ Petition No. 397 of 2025, decided on 24-07-2025]
*Judgment authored by: Justice Manish Pitale
Advocates who appeared in this case :
For the Petitioner: V.D. Hon, Senior Advocate i/by Mr. S.S. Kote, Advocate, Ashwin V. Hon, Advocate
For the Respondents: Alok Sharma, Standing Counsel, S.S. Joshi, AGP, A.D. Sonkawade h/f Ashwin V. Hon, Advocate, R.B. Bagul, Advocate, Alok Sharma, Standing Counsel, V.M. Kagne, AGP.
