In the matter titled as “Abhimanyu Bishnoi versus AIIMS & Others,Writ Petition No. 6455/2018”, the Hon’ble High Court of Delhi has directed AIIMS to pay an amount of Rs. 50,000/- to the student who was refused entry into the examination centre and thus could not give the AIIMS MBBS Entrance Examination, 2018.

Facts of the case

The petitioner is a candidate who appeared in the AIIMS MBBS Entrance Examination, 2018.He completed his schooling from Kendriya Vidyalaya, Air Force Station, District Bidar, Karnataka. He scored 89% in the CBSE Class XII examination. He chose the examination centre at Shahabad Road Shetty Institute of Technology, Gulberg, Kalaburagi (Gulbarga) Karnataka, to appear for the exam.The Petitioner had the option of giving any of his four identification documents namely, Aadhaar card, Voter I-card, Passport, or Class XII board examination certificate with photograph.The Petitioner is a minor and in his application, he gave his identification as the Aadhaar card number.

The Petitioner thereafter received his admit card on the AIIMS websitewww.aiimsexams.org. When he reached the examination centre on 26th May, 2018 at the reporting time i.e.1:30 pm, the Petitioner produced his original Aadhaar card for verification.However, the official, who was verifying the documents of the students at the entry of the examination centre, was unable to scan the QR (Quick response) code of the Aadhaar card, on his phone, in order to establish its authenticity, for whatever reasons. Insofar as other identity cards were concerned produced by other candidates, they were only physically verified. Despite the Petitioner producing his original Aadhaar card, he was refused entry into the examination centre and thus could not give the examination.

A perusal of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, Prospectus, 2018 - MBBS Courses (hereinafter, “the Examination Brochure”) shows that the only clause relating to admission of a student to the examination centre reads as under:

“6. No candidate will be allowed to enter the Examination Hall without a valid Admit Card (Original print out), ID proof and one photograph.The ID proof should be the same as the one mentioned in the Application.”

From the above clause, it is clear that the Petitioner carried his Admit card as also the original Aadhaar card and he thus fulfilled the criteria fixed for admission to the examination centre. The scanning of the QR code by the official at the entry point is not even prescribed as a requirement in the brochure. Thus, the rejection of the Petitioner’s entry to the examination centre is completely untenable.

Judgment of the Hon’ble High Court

“It is however deemed appropriate to issue the following directions to avoid students and candidates appearing for the AIIMS examinations being confronted from such incidents and situations.

Accordingly it is directed as under:

1. AIIMS is directed to, as part of its brochure, provide the manner in which examination centres respond to various situations such as identification documents, medical conditions, discrepancies in admit cards, discrepancies in question papers and manner of marking answers, and the manner of dealing with the same on an immediate basis;
2. In future, the controller of examinations of AIIMS shall ensure that a response team is constituted to deal with issues raised on the day of the examination and such a team should also be able to respond immediately in such emergent situations.
3. Since the examination is conducted in centres across the country, the heads of Examination centres ought to be given uniform set of instructions to ensure that students are not made to suffer in this manner.
4. If the examinations are conducted online, there ought to be an emergent technical response team to deal with any technical glitches that may arise.

12. To turn back a student from an entrance examination centre would result in a fait accompli, as has happened in the present case, which has to be avoided under all circumstances. In view of the non-responsive attitude of AIIMS, both to the candidate’s representation and before this Court, the Petitioner deserves to be compensated with costs for the treatment that has been meted out to him. In view of the harassment and frustration caused to the Petitioner, AIIMS is directed to pay costs of Rs.50,000/- to the Petitioner.Petition is disposed of with the above observations and directions."

Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

Vice President CMAAO

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Immediate Past National President IMA