In a recent ruling, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court dismissed an appeal by the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, confirming a single judge’s decision to restore an MBBS seat to a student who had inadvertently chosen a Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) program.

The case centered around Jubil Timothy, a meritorious student who mistakenly selected the BDS course after initially being allocated an MBBS seat during the first round of counseling. The court recognized the choice as an unintentional error, allowing him to reclaim his MBBS seat from the first round.

The appellants, represented by Additional Advocate General J. Ravindran, argued that under the applicable rules, once a candidate accepts a new course in a subsequent round, they forfeit the previously allotted seat. However, the court held that this rule was incorrectly applied in Timothy’s case, as his shift to the BDS course was a “degradation,” not an “upgradation.”

Justices R. Subramanian and Sunder Mohan emphasized that the rule in question pertains only to upgradations and not to cases of accidental downgrades. Citing the Karnataka High Court's precedent in Lakshmi P. Gowda vs. National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences, the bench stressed that concerns about reopening allocations should not prevent a deserving candidate from securing their rightful seat. It highlighted that similar cases had required authorities to reconsider allocations to rectify administrative errors affecting students.

The court ultimately rejected the appellants' strict interpretation of the rules, calling their argument overly technical and lacking in compassion. Given Timothy’s high academic merit and the unintentional nature of his choice, the bench concluded that enforcing a penalty would be disproportionate.