S. Nihaal Ahamed v. The Dean, Velammal Medical College Hospital and Research Institute & Ors.
Background
Two students who had ranked well in the merit list for M.B.B.S. admission chose a private medical college as their first preference and approached the college for admission on the day the results were declared, but were told to come back two days later. The college then sent them official counselling call letters, but posted those letters so late that the students received them only after the counselling date had already passed, and when they then rushed to the college, admission was refused for "missing" the counselling. Both students sued in the Madras High Court; a Single Judge found they could no longer get admission because of the lapse of time but awarded them compensation, while a Division Bench on appeal upheld the denial of admission but took away the compensation too.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that the college itself was at fault for the delay: the counselling letters were deliberately drafted with an earlier date but posted only several days later, as shown by the postal seal, after the college had already been caught out by a complaint to the Monitoring Committee. Relying on its own precedent that a candidate should not be penalized for an institution's fault even where re-admission is no longer practically possible once seats are filled and time has lapsed, the Court held that while readmission was indeed no longer feasible, the students were entitled to compensation for the injustice caused. It restored the Single Judge's order awarding Rs. 3 lakh in compensation to each student, setting aside the Division Bench's decision which had wrongly taken that compensation away.
Lesson Learnt
When an institution's own administrative delay or misconduct costs a deserving candidate their rightful seat, courts can and will award monetary compensation even though they cannot undo the lost opportunity itself.