Supreme Court recently while reviewing a writ petition filed under Article 32 have observed that the Right To Professional Education is not a governmental largesse, instead, the state has an affirmative obligation to facilitate access to education at all levels.
The separate two pleas were filed by two students from Ladakh namely Farzana Batool and Mohammad Mehdi Waziri who were not admitted to MBBS degree course in medical colleges in Delhi despite being nominated by the Union Territory and in terms of the seats notified by the Centre under the ‘central pool’ seats set apart by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
A bench consisting of Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice M R Shah observed that “Given that the issue raised in this case concerns access to education, albeit, at the professional level, we would like to take this opportunity to underscore the importance of creating an enabling environment to make it possible for students such as the petitioners to pursue professional education. While the right to pursue higher (professional) education has not been spelt out as a fundamental right in Part III of the Constitution, it bears emphasis that access to professional education is not a governmental largesse. Instead, the State has an affirmative obligation to facilitate access to education, at all levels.”
The Apex Court directed the colleges to grant these two students admission in the respective colleges to which they were listed to be admitted. The bench also directed the other 7 students who were also selected and nominated for the Central Pool Medical Seats, be also granted admission to the concerned institutions, if already not given so far.
While directing the colleges to grant 7 other students the admission the Bench said, “We are issuing these general directions in order to obviate the possibility of each of the similarly placed students being required to move this court. Financial hardship should not prevent the students from getting admission in terms of the allocation which has been made in their favour legitimately under the central pool seats,”.