SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has ordered respondents, including the Atal Medical and Research University (AMRU), to grant admission to petitioner Anjali Kaundal for the MBBS course for the academic year 2026–2027 in a government medical college.
The Court further directed respondent No. 2 to pay costs of ₹1,00,000 to the petitioner within two weeks.
Background of the Dispute
The petitioner, who appeared in the NEET-UG 2026 examination, secured 442 out of 720 marks under the Scheduled Caste category.
Following her registration on the official online counselling portal maintained by AMRU (respondent No. 2), her name appeared at merit rank No. 1090 in the second round of counselling list displayed on September 8, 2026.
Eligible candidates were directed to fill their choices between September 8 and September 9, 2026. In compliance, the petitioner deposited the prescribed security fee of ₹1,00,000 on September 8, 2026, through NEFT/RTGS/e-challan.
However, the amount did not reflect on the online counselling portal within the stipulated period, preventing her from completing the choice-filling process for the second round.
Representations and Portal Discrepancies
Between September 9 and September 15, 2026, the petitioner made multiple representations via email and visited the university office in person to apprise authorities of the transaction and provide bank details/e-challans.
Despite these communications, the respondents maintained that the payment had not been received by the university.
According to instructions placed on record by the standing counsel for AMRU from Juno Software Private Limited (the software company managing the online counselling portal), the payment deposited by the petitioner was not reflected in the online ERP system until September 29, 2026—weeks after the second-round choice-filling deadline had passed.
Although the petitioner was later allowed to participate in subsequent third and stray rounds, all seats had reportedly been filled by that time, and the admission process for MBBS/BDS courses for the academic year concluded on October 26, 2026.
Court Observations
Justice Sandeep Sharma noted that the facts of the case were not in dispute. The Court observed that the petitioner had taken all possible steps and deposited the security fee well within time, but was blocked from participating due to a portal failure and a negligent approach by the respondents in verifying the transaction records.
Relying on Supreme Court precedents such as Asha v. Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences and S. Krishna Sradha v. State of Andhra Pradesh, the High Court reiterated that where no fault is attributable to a meritorious candidate and the authorities are at fault, cut-off dates and technical hurdles cannot be used to ruin a student's professional career.
The Court observed that because the petition was filed and heard within the permissible one-month window following the close of admissions, the prayer for admission warranted intervention.
