Uttaranchal High Court: Manoj K. Tiwari, J. contemplated a writ petition filed by the petitioners who participated in NEET undergraduate exam conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education and had qualified the said exam.
The petitioners were eligible for admission and according to the petitioners, they opted for Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, Jolly Grant, Dehradun for admission against a State Quota seat, as they are permanent residents of State of Uttarakhand. It was contended by the petitioner that the said Institute charged an exorbitant fee as tuition fee and a sum of Rs 9 lakhs was required to be deposited by the petitioner.
Counsel for the petitioners Prateek Tripathi submitted that the fee, which was being charged by the respective Institute, was without any authority of law inasmuch as it had not been determined by the Fee Regulatory Committee.
On the other hand, Sanjeev Agarwal, counsel appearing for Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, submitted that fee, which was being charged, had been duly determined by the Fee Regulatory Committee and had also been notified by the State Government.
The Court observed that petitioners were yet to be admitted in the said Institute and they had an option for some other Medical College in the second or subsequent counseling and as the quantum of the fee was known to the petitioners already, therefore, the Court was not inclined to interfere in the matter at this stage. However, it was needed for the ends of justice that petitioners to appear before Secretary, Higher Education, Uttarakhand and were allowed to represent themselves. It was also observed that to abide by the deadline for depositing such a huge amount was harsh and practically impossible to follow; therefore, it was provided that petitioner was eligible to participate in the second round of counseling.[Dushyant v. State of Uttarakhand, 2019 SCC OnLine Utt 573, decided on 11-07-2019]
