Chhattisgarh: SC quashes admissions of seven students to PG Dental course, terms it illegal

On October 21, the Supreme Court quashed the admission of seven students into postgraduate (PG) courses in Dental Sciences in 2018 in Chattisgarh dental colleges terming them as illegal and said undue sympathy would lead to perpetuating the illegality, as stated in a report by PTI. 

A bench comprising Justices MR Shah and MM Sundresh allowed the appeal of the Dental Council of India and set aside the interim order of the Chhattisgarh High Court permitting the students to continue with their PG courses. 

The judgement penned by Justice Shah said that the interim order passed by the High Court is not legally sustainable. As per the settled position of law, nobody can be permitted to take the advantage of the order passed by the courts. Further, referring to various judgements, the verdict said, "The undue sympathy would lead to perpetuating the illegality and giving premium to the students who got admissions illegally."

What happened in 2018?
As many as seven students including Dentist Sailendra Sharma were not allotted PG seats in the mop round and later in 2018 after the expiry of the deadline were given admission in the PG courses in the state. The authorities came out with an official communication annulling the admissions and it was challenged in the high court.

On June 6, 2018, the high court set aside the communication of the state government cancelling the admissions of the candidates. Further, the challenge to the high court order was allowed by the apex court. 

Consequently, the verdict noted that, thereafter, by the impugned judgment and order, the High Court has allowed the writ petitions by quashing and setting aside the communication and has directed that the respective writ petitioners will be allowed to complete their course. "Applying the law laid down by this court, the colleges unilaterally cannot grant admissions even if the seats remained vacant on the last date", it said. 

Moreover, rejecting the plea of students to be allowed to continue their studies, the verdict said the high court ought not to have passed such an interim order directing to grant admissions or continue with admission/course. And the interim order passed by the high court is not legally sustainable. "As per the settled position of law, nobody can be permitted to take the advantage of the order passed by the Courts," it said.