State to allot MBBS seats to 35 students

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has directed the state to admit 35 students who had appeared for the NEET (UG) and were eligible for admission to the MBBS course but were not allotted a seat as their caste status stayed unverified.

The special bench started hearing the matters in which the students claimed that while their close relatives had valid caste certificates, there was an inadvertent delay by the scrutiny committee to issue the certificate to them as a result of which they would lose out on the chance to secure a seat to the MBBS course. The state however argued that the caste certificates with some of the relatives as claimed by the students were bogus and the said persons had been issued notices.

However, the bench held that while the process of verification of the caste certificates would take its own course, the students could not be denied the chance to secure a seat. Thus saying the court directed the scrutiny committee to expedite the issuance of certificates to 35 students by July 31 and directed five students to approach the scrutiny committee afresh.

The court will continue hearing the cases of the remaining 93 students on Tuesday.