NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has recently directed Delhi University (DU) to admit a medical aspirant, whose seat under the Children/Widows of Armed Forces Personnel (CW) category was wrongfully denied due to a clerical error in processing her Education Concession Certificate (ECC).
The bench comprising acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela has ordered the DU to immediately rectify the situation by creating either a ‘supernumerary seat’ for the student– Yashika Malik– or increase the number of seats under the CW quota, ensuring her rightful place in the medical course.
Malik, who secured 604 out of 720 in the NEET 2024 examination, was entitled to a seat under the CW category. However, despite meeting all the requisite qualifications for admission, Malik’s name was erroneously removed from the final admission list following the cancellation of her certificate by the Kendriya Sainik Board (KSB) in August 2024.
The cancellation was later acknowledged to be a mistake, as Assam Rifles personnel, under whose service Malik’s father was awarded the medal, fall under the purview of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), not KSB.
Consequently, she approached the HC challenging DU’s decision denying her a seat.
The single-judge’s order was challenged by Malik by way of letter patent appeal (LPA), contending that the Single Judge had incorrectly instructed the appellant to be considered in the first round of counselling only subject to the availability of seats, depriving her of her right to be considered for reservation in the first round. the division bench modified the impugned judgment and directed DU to “take appropriate steps to either increase the number of seats by one, in the CW category or create a seat.