The Rajasthan High Court has imposed a penalty of ₹10 lakh on the Rajasthan University of Health Sciences (RUHS) for admitting an ineligible student into the B.Sc. Medical Lab Technology (MLT) course and later denying him the opportunity to sit for his first-year final exams. The Court found both the university and the student at fault and rejected the student’s plea to continue his course.
Justice Anoop Kumar Dhand observed that the University had failed in its duty to verify the student's eligibility before granting admission, causing the student to lose one precious academic year. The petitioner, Balram Yadav, was declared ineligible at the time of examinations due to not having passed the theory paper in Biology during his Senior Secondary examination.
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“Both the petitioner as well as the respondent-University are at fault. It was the duty of the University to verify the documents of the petitioner, at the time of admission… This Court cannot exercise its equitable jurisdiction in favour of the petitioner, who was not eligible to get admission.”
Despite this, RUHS granted admission to the student without proper verification of his documents. The error only surfaced at the end of the academic year, leading to the student being barred from appearing in exams.
“No ineligible candidate could be permitted to take admission to any course and be allowed to complete it under the protection of a court's order… Any illegality cannot be allowed to be perpetuated.”
The student had passed his Senior Secondary exams in 2020 but failed the theory paper in Biology, a compulsory subject for the B.Sc. MLT course. Despite a note on his mark-sheet directing a reappearance in Biology, he was admitted by RUHS based on the same document.
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“The respondent/University, by such an overt act and conduct, not only benefited themselves but also caused loss of one year to the petitioner and financial loss to his parents as well.”
Citing rulings of the Supreme Court in Krina Ajay Shah & Ors. v. The Secretary, Association of Management of Unaided Private Medical & Dental Colleges & Ors. and S. Nihal Ahamed v. Dean, Velammal Medical College, the Court ruled that public law damages must be awarded.
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Accordingly, Justice Dhand ordered RUHS to pay ₹5 lakh to the petitioner as compensation for the loss of his academic year and another ₹5 lakh to the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority.
“For the loss of one year of the petitioner and creating an obstacle in his future educational pursuits, the respondent-University is liable to compensate him for their blatant negligence.”
The Court directed that compliance must be completed within three months, failing which the Rajasthan State Legal Services Authority may take appropriate legal steps.
The case — Balram Yadav v. Rajasthan University of Health Sciences & Ors. — stands as a reminder of the dual responsibility of students and institutions in upholding academic eligibility standards.
