NEET aspirant ‘mistakenly’ clicks ‘no’ for minority quota, gets Madras High Court relief

The Madras High Court recently overturned a decision prohibiting a NEET-UG aspirant from entering the MBBS 2026-27 selection process under the Religious Minority category, after discovering she mistakenly marked "No" instead of "Yes" in the application form. Justice L. Victoria Gowri granted the petitioner relief, explaining that no other student's standing in the merit list would be negatively impacted by granting her the option to upload the Christian Religious Minority Certificate.

The student had applied for MBBS/BDS courses through the management quota, but had inadvertently selected "No" when asked if she wished to apply under the Religious Minority category. After learning of her error, the student submitted a request on August 7, 2026, asking for the authorities to reopen the portal and allow her to upload the minority certificate so she could be considered under the Christian Minority category.

Despite the authorities arguing that the application deadline had passed and further arguing that permitting the change would disrupt the ongoing counselling process, the court found no basis to deny the petitioner's request.