Here's a look at a recent court decision where several students lost their nursing admissions because they didn't meet the required qualifications.
A group of students got into nursing programs in Maharashtra, but their admissions were canceled by the Indian Nursing Council (INC) because they didn't meet the necessary qualifications. The students, led by Nandini Prakash Ingawale, took the issue to the High Court, hoping to stay in their courses.
Some students, including Nandini Prakash Ingawale, were allowed to take their first-semester exams after the court gave them temporary permission. This was mainly because their seniors, who were also ineligible, were allowed to continue their studies.
“Nandini Prakash Ingawale and other petitioners have been permitted to appear for the 1st semester examination, which begins from 23rd September, 2025, and ends on 26th September, 2025.”
The INC found that the students' high school subjects didn't match the required ones for nursing courses. For example, one student had subjects like Computer Techniques, while another had Crop Science, none of which are relevant to nursing.
The court, led by Judges Ravindra V. Ghuge and Ashwin D. Bhobe, decided that allowing these students to continue would undermine the whole admissions process. They emphasized that admissions that didn't follow the rules couldn't be ignored, even if similar cases had been overlooked before.
“Allowing such students to appear for exams... would be a mockery of the admissions process.”
Admissions Canceled: The court officially canceled all the students' admissions.
Results Withheld: The results of their exams won't be released for 45 days.
Fees and Compensation: Colleges must return the fees to the students and pay them for wasting a year.
Action Against Colleges: The court ordered a review of the colleges' admissions over the past five years to prevent future issues.
The court decided to cancel the admissions of the students who didn't meet the requirements and ordered the colleges to give back the students' fees and compensate them for the lost time. The court also wants to make sure this doesn't happen again by checking the colleges' admissions from the past five years.
