HC terms AIIMS' admission criteria as 'arbitrary, irrational'

The court said that AIIMS should not have carried forward the vacant seat to the next academic session and asked it to give admission to a student, who had secured sixth rank in the test, after the higher-ranking selected candidate did not take admission.

The institute had five seats in the MDS course for general category students in the current academic session.

"We therefore find the clause aforesaid in the prospectus of AIIMS, to be arbitrary and irrational and set aside/quash the same and axiomatically direct the respondent AIIMS, subject to the petitioner satisfying other criteria, to admit the petitioner who admittedly is next rank holder to the said course," a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said.

Justice Endlaw, writing the judgement, however, clarified that in future, it would be open for AIIMS to prescribe that the admission will not be granted to a student, who is below a particular rank, even if the seats are available.

The court's decision came on the plea of Dinesh Kumar Chopra, a Bachelor of Dental Surgery from a college here, that he had secured sixth rank in the examination held in July this year for five general seats in MDS course and could not get the admission despite a student Devashish, ranked fourth, not taking the admission and joining some other institute, leaving one seat vacant.

Instead of admitting Chopra, the AIIMS took refuge of the clause in the prospectus and carried forward the seat to next session. (More)