It was 11th hour relief for three government doctors who wanted to do higher studies in medicine and dentistry.

A special bench of the Karnataka high court on Saturday permitted the trio to appear for the Post-Graduate Entrance Test - 2012 today by issuing the necessary hall tickets.

Justice B S Patil directed the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) to permit Dr H T Prathima, working as a dentist at the Government Hospital, Koratagere in Tumkur district, Dr Afzal Ur Rahman, general duty medical officer, Primary Health Centre in Sira taluk and Dr K G Jagadish, general duty medical officer at Community Health Centre, Pavagada taluk to appear for the exam.

He also directed issuance of emergent notices to secretaries of department of health & family welfare, medical education and the registrar of RGUHS while adjourning the hearing to February 8.

The court said it needed to check whether the petitioners were diligent enough with regard to filing their application. The court also said they cannot claim any equity based on the interim order.

The petitioners complained that though they applied for PGET-2012 in time through the competent authority (district health officer), RGUHS did not upload their hall tickets till January 24 saying that though online applications were received, the applications sent through the department were not yet received.

They claimed the authorities did not heed their request to consider their case as they did not suffer from any sort of disqualification and due to their age, they may not get another opportunity in future.

The RGUHS issued the notification for applications on November 21, 2011. The petitioners registered online between December 12 and 14. After completing the online registration, they submitted their applications with all necessary testimonials through the district health officer,Tumkur for him to forward to the RGUHS.

The DHO forwarded the applications on December 19 and 20.