Madurai
It was a long battle for visually impaired medical aspirant J. Vibin who wanted to take up the course of his choice. Following a string of litigation that lasted nearly a year, J. Vibin can now pursue his dream after the State on Tuesday informed the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court that he will be allotted a medical seat this academic year.
With the Special Leave Petition preferred by the State before the Supreme Court dismissed, the State informed a Division Bench of Justices K. Ravichandrabaabu and Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy that Vibin will be allotted a seat once the seats under all-India quota were surrendered. He will now be allotted a seat under the BC category.
After Senior Counsel M. Ajmal Khan argued that the aspirant should be ensured a medical seat, Additional Advocate General K. Chellapandian said that the Selection Committee had given an undertaking to ensure a seat to Vibin and he would be allotted a seat in a government medical college. The court posted the case for reporting compliance on August 7.
Vibin from Tirunelveli first moved the High Court Bench in 2018 through his father M. Jabakar, who said that his son had successfully cleared both the Plus Two public examination and NEET. Having qualified under the special category, he was allotted a seat in Pudukkottai Medical College after online counselling.
However, he was denied admission following variation in the visual impairment assessment. A single-judge bench of the High Court allowed the petition and directed the State to allot a seat. But the State preferred an appeal against the verdict. A Division Bench of the High Court upheld the order passed by the single bench.
With no response from the authorities concerned, the candidate filed a contempt petition before the High Court Bench seeking a direction to abide by the court’s order. The State then informed the court that a Special Leave Petition was filed before the Supreme Court. The SLP was dismissed by the Supreme Court on July 8.
