No additional mop up round for filling nursing courses for 2021-22: SC

The Supreme Court on Friday refused to direct the Centre and the Indian Nursing Council to conduct an additional mop-up round for filling up seats in nursing courses in Delhi for the academic year 2021-22, saying the admission process cannot be endless. A vacation bench of justices M R Shah and Aniruddha Bose dismissed the pleas of St Stephens Hospital College of Nursing and Angela Biju seeking a direction to open the admission process by allowing one more additional mop-up round for the nursing courses for 2021-22 on grounds including that nearly 110 seats are remaining vacant in Delhi nursing institutions.

The admission process for the nursing courses in Delhi ended on March 31, 2022, for the academic session of 2021-22.

The pleas alleged that the schedule for two government nursing colleges was extended from March 31 to May 15 and hence, such a relief can be granted to St Stephens Hospital College of Nursing as well.

"The process of admission in educational institutions cannot be endless and it must come to an end at a particular point in time. The extension or deviation in the schedule may ultimately affect the education. Under the circumstances, we see no reason to interfere with the judgment/order passed by the (Delhi) high court. Both the SLPs (Special Leave Petitions) stand dismissed," the bench ordered.

During the brief hearing, it was urged that nearly 110 nursing seats are vacant in Delhi which has felt the dearth of human resources during the pandemic.

"From the notification issued by the Indian Nursing Council, the last date of admission for the academic year 2021-22 was March 31, 2022. As per the settled position, the schedule for admission to educational institutions has to be adhered to. As such the high court has rightly refused to entertain the petition and grant any relief of further mop-up round to fill up the seats which have remained vacant," the bench said. "There cannot be any negative discrimination. Concerning all other institutions the time limit of March 31 has been adhered to and even the date of May 15, has also gone," it said. The bench was hearing appeals against the Delhi High Court's decision not to extend the schedule for admissions in Delhi nursing colleges for the academic session 2021-22.