NEET | Biology In Class 11 Not Mandatory: Rajasthan High Court Orders Admission Of Candidate Who Took Biology As Additional Subject In Class 12

Rajasthan High Court granted relief to a successful NEET candidate whose candidature was rejected solely on the ground that he did not pursue Biology in Class 11th, rather studied and passed it in Class 12th only, that too as an additional subject.The bench of Dr. Justice Nupur Bhati opined that the Public Notice issued in 2023 by the National Medical Commission (“NMC”), as well as the Information Booklet issued in harmony with the Public Notice, clearly indicated that Biology was not a compulsory subject in Class 11th for the purpose of admission to the MBBS Course. Petitioner cleared NEET 2025 and was allotted a college. However, during the counselling and document verification, his candidature was rejected on the ground that he did not pursue Biology in Class 11th. Hence, petitioner moved before the Court. It was the case of the petitioner that as per the information bulletin and public notice issued by NMC in 2023, paragraph 7 notified that the condition of having Biology in both class 11th and 12th was declared redundant. The notice permitted the students who had biology even as additional subject in class 12th to be eligible for MBBS admission. After hearing the contentions, and perusing the records, the Court accepted the argument put forth by the petitioner. Furthermore, it was held, “It is abundantly reflected from the Public Notice as well as the Information Booklet that word 'after' has been erroneously mentioned instead of 'at the time of passing class 12th' while mentioning the requirement of having the requisite subjects Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology along with English), even as additional subjects after passing class 12th.”The Court observed that looking at the public notice, the information booklet, as well as the context of the regulations, it was clear that the intention was to allow the candidates who had undertaken these subjects as additional at the time of passing 12th and not after having passed the examination. Usage of the word “after” was a drafting error. It was held that such inadvertent misstatement could not be construed to create artificial bar on candidates like the petitioner who had passed the required subjects. In this background, the Court held that there was not even in iota of doubt that there was no requirement of studying Biology in Class 11th for getting admission in MBBS. And that the petitioner was eligible to get the admission. Accordingly, rejection of petitioner's candidature was found to be arbitrary, and the State was directed to consider the petitioner's candidature within one week. Title: Gopal Singh v State of Rajasthan & Ors. Citation: 2025 LiveLaw (Raj) 397Click Here To Read/Download Order

NEET | Biology In Class 11 Not Mandatory: Rajasthan High Court Orders Admission Of Candidate Who Took Biology As Additional Subject In Class 12

Nupur Agrawal

Tags