A Class 12 pass out, S G Athul Chand, who had filed a petition seeking permission to attend the State medical counselling after his application was rejected based on nativity,  has been directed to attend the counselling by the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court. The case was adjourned to July 11.  Athul, a native of Kanniyakumari district in Tamil Nadu, pursued a better part of his schooling - from Class 8 to 12 - in Kerala.

As he was residing in Kerala when the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) was conducted, he took his test in an exam centre in Kerala and had scored 339 marks out of a possible 720. However, the petitioner submitted that even after sending his application to the Selection Committee of the Directorate of Medical Education, with all the required documents, on time, his name did not feature in the list of candidates selected for the Tamil Nadu medical counselling, due to a particular clause in the prospectus issued by the committee, stating that only candidates who applied for the exam from the State of Tamil Nadu would be eligible for the selection for admission.

Athul stated that though he had sent a representation to the directorate seeking permission to allow him to participate in the counselling based on his marks and the nativity certificate, he had to approach the court for a quick remedy as the counselling had already begun.  He prayed the court to direct the committee to allow him to attend the counselling.