Madras High Court to the rescue of girl who wrote exam in parts

“If the student/candidate is unable to appear for the reason beyond his/her control, certainly, the appearance cannot be taken as part by part,” held Justice S Vaidyanathan, clearing the way for petitioner, JT Harini, to be considered for admission – if found eligible otherwise.

After suffering from chicken pox, Harini had to attend the special examination conducted in June and July 2017 – in addition to the tests in March. She approached the court seeking a direction that the two should be combined as first appearance so as to enable her to attend the counselling for MBBS and BDS through NEET.

However, the respondents – Medical Education principle secretary, Selection Committee, Directorate of Medical Education and the Department of Medical Education – cited the prospectus and GOs and said she had cleared the qualifying examination in two separate sittings instead of a single sitting.

“Only the marks obtained in the relevant science subjects in HSC qualifying examinations as a whole in the first appearance will alone be taken into consideration for the allotment of seats to the candidates, and neither the improvement marks nor marks obtained through part by part appearance in Plus Two examinations will be considered,” the counter maintained.

Hearing the arguments, the court sided with the girl, pointing out that the girl was down with chicken pox, the medical certificate for which was not disputed by the state.

Had she tried to enter the examination hall to appear for the test, the teachers there would have surely prevented her, as there was possibility of the infectious disease being spread to others, the judge noted.

If the candidate was unable to appear for a reason that was beyond her control, it cannot be taken as part by part, Justice Vaidyanathan said. “In this case, the petitioner has got the genuine reason for not appearing in those examinations and that her appearance in the subsequent examination, will have to be taken into account as the first appearance,” he added.

Harini’s candidature should be considered if was successful in NEET and the counselling that follows, said the court.