Surname change issue: MBBS student gets PG admission after court intervention

The Bombay High Court came to the rescue of a 23-year-old MBBS graduate from Kurla, who was denied admission by a college to pursue his postgraduation on the ground that his surname, which he had changed, did not match with that mentioned in the cast validity certificate issued to show he belonged to a reserved category.

A vacation bench of justice BR Gavai and Dr Shalini Phansalkar Joshi, by way of interim relief, directed the state medical education department and the college to consider the claim of the petitioner and verify the documents of surname change and notifications before granting him admission.

The student, Shantanu Bharadwaj, had approached HC through his advocate PA Pol, claiming that he is being denied admission to the PG course even after clearing the Common Entrance Test.

Pol said that because of the HC order the student was able to secure admission in the college on May 25.

Bharadwaj and his elder brother had, in 2000, changed their surname from Sapkal to Bhardwaj, and subsequently, all education records were also changed. When they had approached the district magistrate for carrying out the change in the caste certificate, they were informed that there was no provision for the same.

The student claimed that the denial of admission only on the basis of change in surname was "arbitrary and illegal". The court agreed with the petitioner and observed, "If the surname is changed, that does not change the caste of a person."