Rajiv Mittal
Vs. Maharshi Dayanand University & Ors [1997] INSC 878 (28 November 1997)
J.S.
VERMA, B.N. KIRPAL, M. SRINIVASAN
ACT:
HEADNOTE:
THE
28TH DAY OF NOVEMBER, 1997 Present:
Hon'ble
the Chief Justice Hon'ble Mr.Justice B.N.Kirpal Hon'ble Mr.Justice M.Srinivasan
Manoj Swarup, Adv. for the appellant K.K. Mohan, Adv. for the Respondents.
The
following Judgment of the Court was delivered:
KIRPAL,J.
The
question which arises for consideration in this appeal relates to the admission
to first year M.B.B.S.
course
for the session 1996-97 to the Rohtak Medical College, respondent No.2.
Seats
in different medical colleges in the State of Haryana are filled on the basis of M.B.B.S. entrance examination. Rohtak Medical College, respondent No.2 is affiliated to Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak and for the session
1996-97, it had 60 M.B.B.S. free seats to which admission had to be made in the
first year of the said course. Out of this, 49 seats were to be filled from the
open category candidates while remaining 11 seats were reserved for backward
class candidates.
In the
entrance examination, one Sunil Yadav, on the basis of his marks, had secured
position at serial No.1 in the category of backward class quota while in the
general category, he had been placed at merit position No. 62. The seats to the
medical colleges are filled on the basis of counselling where candidates are
given option to select the college where they want to study. This option is
given to the candidates whose names are arranged in the order of merit.
On
9.9.1996, the first counselling for the 49 seats in the open/general category
was held. Sunil Yadav did not secure any seat in the general category because
of his low merit position. On the following day i.e. 10.9.1996, Sunil Yadav
appeared for the first counselling for the reserved seats as he had been placed
at serial No. 1 in the category of backward class. He naturally got selected
and secured admission to the M.B.B.S. course at the Rohtak Medical College in the reserved category.
In
after the first counselling, certain seats remain unfilled, then second, third
or fourth counselling, as the need arise, takes place, inasmuch as few seats in
the general category had fallen vacant, second counselling was held on
26.9.1996. Students upto serial No. 60 in the aforesaid merit list were granted
admission and there still remained on seat in the general category which
remained to be filled. The candidates at merit list No. 61 did not join the counselling,
Sunil Yadav, who was at merit list No. 62 having already secured admission,
also did not appear for the counselling for the general category. Similarly,
candidates at Serial Nos. 63, 64 and 65 also did not join for counselling. This
seat was thereupon offered to the appellant herein who was at serial No. 66. He
accepted the offer of admission and jointed the Rohtak Medical College.
Respondent
No. 3 who belonged to the reserved category could not get admission in the Rohtak Medical College inasmuch as his merit position in
the reserved category was at serial No. 12 while the number of seats in this
category in that college were only 11 and all those seats had been filled. He
thereupon filed a writ petition in the Punjab & Haryana High Court
contending that Sunil Yadav should have been adjusted against the general
category seat, which had been allotted to the appellant herein in the second counselling
held on 26.9.1996, and if this is done, one seat in the reserved category would
fall vacant which would naturally fall to respondent No. 3.
On
behalf of the respondent No. 1, the stand taken was that Sunil Yadav could not
be considered in the first counselling in the open category because he did not
fall among those open category candidates who had been given admission against
49 open category seats. Candidates upto merit position 53 had been offered
admission against these seats at the time of first counselling. Thereupon,
Sunil Yadav was called for first counselling for reserved seats and was granted
admission against the backward category quota. He having thus secured the seat,
lost his claim for open category and, therefore did not attend these second counselling
which was held on 26.9.1996.
The
High Court, allowed the writ petition filed by respondent No. 3 as it held that
it was "settled principle of law that a candidate from the reserved class,
if is entitled to get admission to a course of his own merit in the general
list, he must be treated on his merit and not accommodated against the reserved
vacancy". It thereupon came to the conclusion that Sunil Yadav should have
been adjusted against the one seat in the general category which had been
offered to the appellant at the time of second counselling and that the
reserved seat, which would be so vacating by Sunil Yadav, should be offered and
admission granted to respondent No. 3, It however, directed that the seat was
occupied by respondent in the Medical College, Agroha, Hissar, Haryana should
be given to the appellant herein and writ petitioner should be shifted to the
seat which was occupied by the appellant herein in the Medical College at Rohtak.
It may be noticed that respondent No.3 had already secured admission at Medical College, Agroha Hissar, Haryana but he wanted to shift to the Medical College, Rohtak just as the appellant herein had already secured a
admission in another medical college and he too wanted to shift to the Rohtak Medical College.
On
behalf of the appellant, it has been contended that the High Court not direct
that Sunil Yadav should be considered as having been given the general category
seat in the second counselling when he had already secured admission in the
first counselling in the reserved category. on the other had, the respondents
have relied on the judgment of the High Court and in particular Note 2 of the
Information Brochure and contended that Sunil Yadav could only be adjusted
against the open category seat and he could not be considered for the reserved
category.
In our
opinion, the High Court erred in allowing the writ petition and directing that
the admission, which had been granted to the appellant, should be cancelled.
The system of counselling for the purpose of granting admission to the various
medical colleges in the State is now regarded as mot equitable one where
options are given of various seats to the students in accordance with their
overall merit position in the combined entrance examination, which examination
is competitive in nature.
If as
a result of first counselling, all the seats, which are available, are filled
then no further counselling takes place. Where however some seats become
available, then it appears that second, third of if then need arise, fourth counselling
does take place but in such a manner that normally there should be no delay in
the commencement of the course of study. Further more unless and until counselling
takes place, no candidate who has been granted admission on the basis of the counselling,
is allowed to change his college merely because a seat in another college has
fallen vacant. The seats, if any, which fall vacant, can only be filled if and
when counselling takes place where the candidates who have already been
selected my have an option of shifting to another college. An appropriate
analogy of this system is that of booking chart for a dramatic performance
which has to take place in the future. The peoples standing in the queue
reserve or book their seats out of those which are available according to their
preference. Once the chart fills up the booking closes. Only sometimes, if
tickets are returned they may be reissued.
But
once the dramatic performance starts no one is allowed to enter. Just as counselling
for seats to medical colleges must stop once the course of study commence.
The
learned counsel for the respondent submitted that Sunil Yadav could only be
considered as a general category candidate and placed reliance on the
observations of this (3) SCC 212 where at page 735, it was observed as follows:
"In
this connection it is well to remember that the reservations under Article
14(4) do not operate like a communal reservation. It may well happen that some
members belonging to, say Scheduled Castes get selected in the open competition
field on the basis of their own merit; they will not be counted against the
quota reserved for Scheduled Castes; they will be treated as open competition
candidates." The aforesaid principles has, apparently, been incorporated
in Note 2 in the Information Brochure of the Maharshi Dayanand University Rohtak
which reads as follows:
"A
candidate who applies either for reserved category or for both reserved and
open will be considered first in open category.
In
case he/she is not selected in open category, he/she will be considered for
reserved category." The aforesaid Note 2 has been constructed by the High
Court to mean that Sunil Yadav who was also in the merit list for the seat in
the open category should be considered as having been selected to the open
category seat and he should not be considered as having been selected for the
reserved category seat.
The
aforesaid Note 2 has not been correctly construed by the High Court. This note,
in a case like the present, will have application only when a reserved category
candidates is in a position to secure, and secures admission to a seat in the
general in the same counselling in which seat is available to him in the
reserved category. It is for this reason that the first counselling for the
general category candidates was held on 9.9.1996 while the first counselling
for the reserved category candidates was held on 10.9.1986. In other words the
first counselling was spread over two days so that if any reserved category
student had managed to secure admission to the general category seat then will
not be entitled to adjustment against the reserved seat. Had Sunil Yadav
secured admission to any one of the 49 seats in the first counselling held on
9.9.96, then could not have been called or considered for admission against any
of the 11 reserved seats in the counselling which was held for the backward
class candidates on 10.9.1996. As Sunil Yadav's position in the open category
was at serial number 62 and the last candidate who had secured admission at the
first counselling against the 40th seat was at serial No. 53, therefore, having
ailed to secure admission on 9.9.1996, Sunil Yadav was rightly allowed to take
part on the second day of the first counselling for the backward class
candidates which was held on 10.9.1996. It is in that counselling that he was
selected and granted admission to the Medical College at Rohtak. Once Sunil Yadav has
secured admission in the reserved category quota at the first counselling,
there would be no occasion for him to take part in the second counselling for
the general category seat for the same college which held on 26.9.1996. The
seat which had fallen vacant was one of the 49 seats which was required to be
filled by the general category candidates. As the aforesaid Note 2 was not
applicable to a case like the present, where Sunil Yadav having failed to
secure admission to a seat in the open category in the first counselling for
that category but had secured admission to there served seat in the same counselling,
the question of his being shifted or being regarded as a candidate to the open
category seat which had become available only after he had secured admission
did not and could not arise and, consequently, the appellant was rightly
granted admission to the general category seat in the Rohtak Medical College.
For
the aforesaid reasons, we allow the appeal and set aside the Judgment of the
High Court, the result of which would be that the writ petition filed by the
respondent No. 3 before the High Court would stand dismissed. There will be no
order as to costs.
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