BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has ordered Sri Siddhartha Medical College in Tumakuru to pay Rs 15 lakh in compensation to a student who was denied admission to the MBBS, course in 2017-18 despite meeting eligibility requirements.
The division bench of Justice Anu Sivaramana and Justice K Manmadha Rao delivered the verdict on August 20.
The court noted that the petitioner Sanjana V from Tumkuru, who had secured All India Rank 195911 in NEET-2017, had paid the first-year fees and submitted a bank guarantee on time in September 2017. However, admission was denied due to an illegal demand raised by the college. Instead, the seat was given to a less meritorious candidate, the bench observed.
While the institution argued that the document assuring a free management quota seat in 2018-19 was not genuine and obtained under coercion, the bench observed that no complaint or legal steps were taken by the college or its principal to establish this claim.
The court further observed that the petitioner was justified in waiting for the assurance of the Chancellor, who had promised a free medical seat in 2018-19 through a letter countersigned by the college principal and the student on October 11, 2017, promising her a free management quota seat for the 2018-19 academic year. However, the assurance was never honoured. Left with no option, the student joined Basaveshwara Medical College in August 2018, paying over Rs 24 lakh for her MBBS course.
The bench relied on the Supreme Court rulings that meritorious students should not be victimised for no fault of their own and that compensation may be awarded when admissions are denied arbitrarily.
The judges dismissed the college’s claim that the assurance letter was fabricated, noting no evidence was produced to prove forgery.
While the petitioner had sought Rs 5 crore in damages and reimbursement of her education expenses, the court restricted compensation to Rs 15 lakh, directing the college to pay within two months.