Karnataka High Court directs authorities to admit swimmer Siri Srikanth to MBBS under sports quota

Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court has directed the authorities to admit Siri Srikanth, a national level swimmer, to the MBBS course under sports quota for the academic year 2024-25. A division bench comprising Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind passed this order allowing the petition filed by the swimmer alleging that the admissions made by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) under the sports quota were not in order.

The petitioner had appeared for CET and NEET Examinations for the academic year 2022-23. It was submitted that after a revised list, Sathwik Shivanand and one SR Pranitha, whose name is not even figured in the list, were admitted. Siri Srikanth contended she was deprived of admission in view of the arbitrary exercise of admitting the candidates contrary to the published list.

After a round of litigation in the high court, the petitioner approached the Apex Court. The top court had permitted her to participate in the exercise to be re-done. It is the contention that the authorities had not considered her case.

On the other hand, Sathwik Shivanand submitted that he is more meritorious than the petitioner as he secured NEET 63,498 rank while the petitioner secured 8,24,288 rank.

The court observed that Rule 9(1)(B) of Karnataka Selection of Candidates for Admission to Government Seats in Professional Educational Institutions Rules, 2006 prescribes the eligibility for selection under sports category. The court noted that the petitioner has secured Silver and Bronze medals in National Level Championship conducted by Swimming Federation of India, apart from other medals and participation certificates and Sathwik Shivanand has only represented the state.

The bench further said the Rules provide preference among the candidates seeking admission under the sports quota and it ranges between P-I to P-V, on representing the country, state and also winning medals/cups. “In the case on hand, it is not disputed that the petitioner has represented the Karnataka State, won medals/cups and is classified as P.IV. Respondent No.7 (Sathwik Shivanand ) has only represented Karnataka State and is classified as P-V. Applying the priority provided under the proviso, the petitioner is to be preferred over respondent No.7. In view of Rule 9(1)(B) and the proviso of Rules 2006, preferring respondent No.7 against the appellant is incorrect,” the bench said.

The court was informed that the CET/NEET results have been announced for the academic year 2024-25 and the admission is to commence at any time. The court said that the admission of Sathwik Shivanand cannot be cancelled as he is also meritorious. In order to balance equities, the court directed the authorities to admit Siri Srikanth to the MBBS course on a seat in the quota reserved for sports for the academic year 2024-25 without applying any seniority among the candidates eligible for admission under the sports quota in the CET/NEET Examination conducted for the academic year 2024-25.