Right To Pursue Higher Or Professional Education Is A Fundamental Right, Can't Be Curtailed Lightly: Delhi High Court

The Delhi High Court has ruled that the right to pursue higher or professional education is a fundamental right of an individual which cannot be curtailed lightly. “The right to pursue higher or professional education even though not explicitly spelt out as a fundamental right in part III of the Constitution of India, it is an affirmative obligation on the part of the state to ensure this right and the same cannot be permitted to be curtailed, lightly,” Justice Jasmeet Singh held. The Court allowed a plea filed by a candidate, Harshit Agrawal, who appeared for the NEET-UG, 2024 examination held on May 05, 2024, and was admitted to the MBBS course at Bhima Bhoi Medical College and Hospital, Balangir, Odisha. He had obtained an All India Rank of 28,106 and General Category Rank of 11,234. The plea sought directions on NTA to let Agrawal attend his MBBS classes, and to issue a similar order in his favour as was granted to another who was also included in the same list of students terminated from the MBBS course along with him. The names were terminated after an investigation was undertaken by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the paper leak. The other candidate, on whose Agrawal placed reliance upon, despite being part of the said suspected list, was permitted by the Supreme Court to continue her studies and appear in the end semester examination.CBI had also sent summons to Agrawal in connection with the alleged NEET-UG 2024 examination irregularities. Even though he responded to NTA's show cause notice, his scorecard was withdrawn. Pursuant to the same, his admission was cancelled by the college. The CBI contended that a chargesheet has already been filed in the matter and Agrawal was not an accused as per the said chargesheet and was only named as a witness.Granting relief to Agrawal, the Court said that he was granted admission in the collge on the basis of his merit and if the same is to be cancelled, there has to be some valid, genuine and compelling reasons.It said that CBI's statement that Agrawal was not an accused but only a witness made it apparent that there cannot be any prima-facie findings of him committing any malpractices.“The valuable right accrued to the petitioner by clearing the entrance exam, i.e. NEET-UG needs to be protected, as the action of cancellation of admission and removal of the name of the petitioner from the MBBS course is disrupting the academic progress of the petitioner on totally unjustifiable grounds,” the Court said. It directed the authorities to permit Agrawal to continue his MBBS Classes in accordance with the curriculum.Counsel for Petitioner: Mr. Anuraag Mehta, Mr. Ganga Sagar Singh, Mr. Ashish Kumar Chaurasiya, Mr. Adarsh Verma, Advs. Mr. Ashish Kumar Chaurasiya, Mr. Ganga Sagar Singh, Mr. Anurag Mehta, Mr. Anjana Devi, AdvocatesCounsel for Respondents: Mr. Abhay Mani Tripathi, Ms. Monika Tiwari, Mr. Suryans Agrrwal, Advs. for R-1; Mr. Vikas Kr. Sharma, Senior Central Govt. Counsel for R-3; Ms. Manisha Agrawal Narain, Mr. Nipun Jain, Advs. for R-6Title: HARSHIT AGRAWAL v. NATIONAL TESTING AGENCY AND ORSCitation: 2026 LiveLaw (Del) 67Click here to read order

Right To Pursue Higher Or Professional Education Is A Fundamental Right, Can't Be Curtailed Lightly: Delhi High Court

Nupur Thapliyal

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