The Government of Maharashtra has been directed by the Bombay High Court to forthwith issue an orphan certificate to two students so that they can appear for the NEET 2022 exams. These two students reside in a home for abandoned and orphaned girls in Mumbai.

It was on May 6 that a division bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Madhav Jamdar passed the order. A copy of the same was made available on Wednesday, May 11. This was while hearing an application filed by The Nest India Foundation NGO, which runs the children’s home, stated a report in PTI.

The application mentioned that in November 2020, the two students had applied to the Mumbai District Women and Child Development Office for issuance of the orphan certificate. The students need the certificate in order to apply for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) 2022 and admission to the MBBS degree course.

Abhinav Chandrachudm, the advocate of the petitioners, had argued that despite making several trips to the office concerned and making many phone calls, the certificate was not issued. While Purnima Kantharia, the government pleader, mentioned that due to certain deficiencies and shortcomings in the application that the certificate wasn't issued.

It was noted by the court that though the application for issuance of the orphan certificate was submitted in November 2020 and to date, no action has been taken by the authority concerned.

“It is also significant to note that from November 2020 till date, the authorities have failed to inform about the nature of deficiencies in the applications,” the court said.  The court directed the authority to issue and grant the orphan certificate to both the students within a period of one week.