The Rajasthan High Court has temporarily halted the implementation of the RUHS CUET-2026 Counselling and Allotment Schedule for admissions to B.Sc. Nursing, D.Pharm. and B.P.T. courses, observing that allowing the counselling process to continue while applications for No Objection Certificates (NOCs) remained pending for over one-and-a-half years would seriously prejudice educational institutions awaiting approval. The interim order came in a batch of connected writ petitions led by Vivekanand Vidya Ashram Sansthan v. State of Rajasthan.
Background of the Case
Several educational institutions approached the High Court alleging that despite the State Government issuing fresh guidelines on 15 October 2024 for establishing nursing colleges and schools, their applications seeking NOCs had not been decided within the prescribed timeline.
The petitioners argued that the policy itself required applications to be processed within 90 days, yet many institutions had waited for more than eighteen months despite investing substantial amounts in infrastructure, inspection fees, security deposits and other mandatory requirements. Some institutions had already approached the Court once earlier and obtained directions for expeditious consideration, but those directions were allegedly not implemented.
Court's Observations
Justice Mukesh Rajpurohit noted that the Court had repeatedly granted time to the State Government after assurances that a final policy decision regarding pending NOC applications would soon be taken.
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During earlier proceedings, the Court had remarked that once the government framed a policy and invited applications, it was difficult to justify keeping them pending for such a long period. The Court had also observed that institutions had already created the required infrastructure and had suffered the loss of one academic session despite no fault on their part.
The Court had previously observed:
“There appears to be no justification for respondent-Department to keep such applications pending for more than one and a half years.”
The record before the Court also showed that although 676 applications had been received under the 2024 guidelines and 73 institutions had already been granted NOCs, the State had not satisfactorily explained why only certain applications were processed while many others remained pending. In several cases, inspections had not even been carried out despite files being ready.
Counselling Notification Triggered Fresh Concern
When the matter was taken up on 29 June 2026, the petitioners produced the RUHS notification dated 11 June 2026 announcing the counselling and allotment schedule.
They argued that commencing counselling before deciding their pending NOC applications would effectively deprive them of another academic year and defeat the purpose of the litigation.
On behalf of the State, the Additional Advocate General informed the Court that the issue was under active consideration and requested about two more weeks to enable the Government to take an appropriate decision.
Court's Reasoning
The High Court observed that despite repeated opportunities and assurances by the State, no final decision had yet been taken on the long-pending NOC applications.
The Court further noted that it had earlier refrained from interfering with the counselling process because the State had represented that no counselling notification had been issued. However, the notification dated 11 June 2026 showed that the admission process had now commenced.
Justice Rajpurohit observed that permitting counselling to proceed before deciding the pending NOC applications would cause irreparable prejudice to institutions whose applications had remained pending because of administrative inaction.
Referring to an earlier Division Bench judgment in Fortune Foundation, the Court also noted that applications seeking NOCs were expected to be considered before the commencement of counselling so that eligible institutions could participate in the admission process.
Decision
Considering the circumstances, the Rajasthan High Court passed an interim order directing that the operation and implementation of the RUHS CUET-2026 Counselling and Allotment Schedule, notified on 11 June 2026, shall remain in abeyance in relation to admissions to B.Sc. Nursing, D.Pharm. and B.P.T. courses until the next date of hearing.
The Court directed that the batch of petitions be listed again on 15 July 2026.
Case Details:
Case Title: Vivekanand Vidya Ashram Sansthan v. State of Rajasthan & Ors. and other connected petitions
Case Number: S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 5711/2025 and connected petitions
Judge: Hon'ble Mr. Justice Mukesh Rajpurohit
Decision Date: 29 June 2026
