Summary
Private universities were refused an extension of postgraduate admission time based on the May 9, 2017 directions for filling stray vacancies. Read in their procedural context, those directions concerned undergraduate admissions only. The Ministry’s subsequent circular mistakenly applying them to postgraduate courses could not support the applications.
Issues
- Whether the May 9, 2017 stray-vacancy directions applied to postgraduate medical admissions.
Held
- Earlier orders had already addressed postgraduate admissions and expressly listed the remaining undergraduate relief for later consideration. The May 9 directions therefore concerned undergraduate courses. (¶ 13–22)
- A list of ten times the vacancies without postgraduate discipline and preference arrangements also supported that reading. The May 26 Ministry circular rested on a misconception about the underlying order and was ineffective for the claimed postgraduate relief. (¶ 21–24)
Result
All interlocutory applications rejected; the universities received no extension on the asserted basis.