Srinagar, Aug 27: The Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh High Court has quashed the Dental Council of India’s (DCI) direction to discharge 10 BDS students admitted to the Institute of Dental Sciences (IDS), Jammu, during the 2016-17 academic session, holding that their admissions could not be invalidated solely for not qualifying NEET-2016.

Justice Sanjay Parihar, in a 36-page judgment, held that the students were admitted against vacant State Quota seats covered by the transitional exemption from the NEET requirement applicable to Jammu and Kashmir during 2016-17.
The court noted that IDS had a sanctioned intake of 100 BDS students, comprising 60 Management Quota and 40 State Quota seats. While all 60 Management Quota seats were filled through NEET merit, the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) could fill only 22 State Quota seats, leaving 18 vacant.
The institute subsequently filled eight of these vacancies with NEET-qualified candidates and the remaining 10 with eligible NRI candidates on the basis of their inter se merit in the qualifying examination.
The court observed that the total admissions remained within the sanctioned intake and were completed before the October 15, 2016 deadline. It also found that no BOPEE-selected candidate had been displaced and that the disputed admissions did not encroach upon Management Quota seats.
Rejecting the argument that the students’ NRI status automatically converted the seats into NRI or Management Quota seats, the court said the character of a seat must be determined by the sanctioned seat matrix and applicable admission rules.
The court further held that NEET qualification was not indispensable for admissions against State Quota seats covered by the transitional exemption applicable to J&K during the 2016-17 academic session.
It also rejected reliance on a later DCI regulatory position, observing that a subsequently crystallised requirement could not ordinarily be applied retrospectively to invalidate admissions made under the legal framework prevailing at the time.
The DCI had directed IDS in August 2017 to discharge the 10 students on the ground that they had not qualified NEET-2016. The students, however, had already continued their BDS studies under interim protection and subsequently completed the course.
The High Court quashed the DCI communications and directed the authorities to recognise the 10 admissions as valid for all academic purposes.
The University of Jammu has also been directed to process their cases for issuance of BDS degrees, certificates and other academic documents, subject to fulfilment of all prescribed academic, attendance, internship and examination requirements.
The court clarified that completion of a professional course cannot by itself cure an illegal admission, but held that the present admissions were not illegal on the ground relied upon by the DCI.
The ruling effectively brings relief to the 10 former students after nearly a decade of litigation.