2-Minute Delay In Reporting For Counselling Can't Defeat Meritorious Candidate's Admission: Meghalaya High Court

The Meghalaya High Court has directed the North Eastern Institute of Ayurveda and Homeopathy (NEIAH) to grant admission in the next academic session to a postgraduate Homeopathy aspirant whose candidature was cancelled after he reported approximately two minutes late for counselling. Holding that the delay was neither deliberate nor mala fide, the Court observed that denying admission to a meritorious candidate over such a slight procedural lapse would cause "severe injustice", particularly when the authorities had arbitrarily failed to extend the benefit of the revised admission deadline.Justice H.S. Thangkhiew remarked that: "The petitioner was late by about 2 minutes to reach the venue due to traffic congestion and other factors... The writ petitioner's delay cannot be held to be deliberate nor mischievous... denying him the chance to continue his degree on account of a slight procedural irregularity would surely cause severe injustice."Background: The petitioner had secured the first rank in the merit list for admission to the MD (Homeopathy) course at NEIAH for the academic session 2025-26. However, his candidature was rejected as he reported after the stipulated reporting time on the counselling date.The petitioner initially approached the High Court seeking creation of a supernumerary seat. By an earlier order dated December 17, 2025, the Court directed him to submit a fresh representation before the institute, which was required to forward the matter to the National Commission for Homeopathy for consideration of creating a supernumerary seat.Pursuant to the Court's direction, the petitioner submitted a representation. The same was rejected on the ground that the admission process for the academic year had concluded on December 22, 2025. However, five days later, the National Commission for Homeopathy issued a notification extending the last date for postgraduate admissions till January 23, 2026.The petitioner also contended that although the National Commission had granted approval for eight postgraduate seats, the institute had advertised only two seats and had failed to disclose this fact in the earlier proceedings.The High Court held that the rejection of the petitioner's representation became unsustainable once the admission cut-off date was extended by the National Commission for Homeopathy. The Court observed that since the extension was already in place, there was no impediment to reconsidering the petitioner's case.The Court further found that the respondents had failed to disclose a material fact in the earlier round of litigation. While they had informed the Court that only two postgraduate seats had been sanctioned, documents subsequently produced by them revealed that the National Commission had in fact approved an intake of eight seats.On the issue of delay, the Court held that the petitioner's reporting approximately two minutes late could not be treated as a deliberate default. It observed that depriving a meritorious OBC candidate of admission for such a minor procedural lapse would result in grave injustice.Thus, the Court held that the respondents had acted arbitrarily by denying the petitioner the benefit of the extended cut-off date and directed the institute to admit him in the next academic session on the strength of his AIAPGET-2025 score.Case Name: Shri. Vaskar Shil v/s The Union of IndiaCase No.: WP (C ) No.8 of 2026Date of Decision: 28.07.2026Click Here To Read/Download Order

2-Minute Delay In Reporting For Counselling Can't Defeat Meritorious Candidate's Admission: Meghalaya High Court

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2-Minute Delay In Reporting For Counselling Can't Defeat Meritorious Candidate's Admission: Meghalaya High Court

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