📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Sumita Roy Dutta
Education
HP High Court Orders MBBS Seat for NEET 2026 Candidate After Portal Glitch, Awards Rs 1 Lakh
✍️ Medical Dialogues
🗓 10 Nov 2026, 11:16 AM
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The Himachal Pradesh High Court directed that a NEET 2026 aspirant be granted an MBBS seat after a technical error in the counselling portal, also directing the state to pay Rs 1 lakh.
The Himachal Pradesh High Court intervened in the NEET 2026 counselling process after a candidate reported that a technical glitch on the official portal prevented the display of his allotted MBBS seat. The court examined the grievance, noting that the portal malfunction disrupted the normal merit‑based allocation and could deny a deserving student his rightful admission.
According to the petition, the candidate’s rank and eligibility were clear, but the portal error omitted his name from the list of allotted seats. The bench held that such a systemic failure warranted judicial oversight to protect the candidate’s right to education under the Constitution.
The court ordered the state medical education department to issue the MBBS seat to the applicant without further delay and directed the authorities to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the inconvenience caused. The order also instructed the department to review its counselling software to prevent similar glitches in future rounds.
State officials said they would comply with the judgment and expedite the admission formalities, while also initiating an audit of the online counselling system ahead of the next counselling cycle.
According to the petition, the candidate’s rank and eligibility were clear, but the portal error omitted his name from the list of allotted seats. The bench held that such a systemic failure warranted judicial oversight to protect the candidate’s right to education under the Constitution.
The court ordered the state medical education department to issue the MBBS seat to the applicant without further delay and directed the authorities to pay a compensation of Rs 1 lakh for the inconvenience caused. The order also instructed the department to review its counselling software to prevent similar glitches in future rounds.
State officials said they would comply with the judgment and expedite the admission formalities, while also initiating an audit of the online counselling system ahead of the next counselling cycle.