Bombay High Court
Rikita D/O. Mohan Vakil vs State Of Maharashtra Ministry Of ... on 31 August, 2016
Bench: B.R. Gavai
wp4647.16 1
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY
NAGPUR BENCH, NAGPUR
WRIT PETITION NO.4647 OF 2016.
PETITIONER: Ritika d/o Mohan Vakil,
aged about 24 years, Occu:
Student, R/o 32 Prashant Nagar,
ig Ajni Square, Nagpur.
: VERSUS :
RESPONDENTS: 1) State of Maharashtra,
Ministry jof Education, Mantralaya
Mumbai-32, through its Secretary.
2) Directorate of Technical Education,
Maharashtra, 3 Mahapalika Marg Mumbai
through its Technical Director.
3) College of Engineering, Pune through
its Principal Wellesely Road, Shivajinagar,
Pune, Maharashtra - 411005.
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Mr.S.S.Ghate, Advocate for the petitioner.
Mr.D.P.Thakre, Asst. Govt. Pleader for respondent nos.1 and 2.
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CORAM: B.R.GAVAI AND
V.M.DESHPANDE, JJ.
DATE: 31st AUGUST, 2016.
ORAL JUDGMENT (Per B.R.Gavai, J.)
1. Rule. Rule is made returnable forthwith. Heard finally
by consent of parties.
2.
The petitioner has approached this Court being
aggrieved by the inaction on the part of the respondent no.3 in
granting admission to the petitioner for the Course of Master of
Technology in Town and Country Planning.
3. Heard Shri Ghate, learned counsel holding for Advocte
Shri R.R.Deshpande, for the petitioner and Shri Thakare, learned
Assistant Government Pleader for the respondents.
4. The facts are not much in dispute. The petitioner
having cleared her Bachelor of Architecture from Vishvesharya
National Institute of Technology, Nagpur on 15 th of September,
2015, appeared for Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineer
(hereinafter referred to as "GATE"). She cleared said examination
on 23rd of March, 2016 and thereafter appeared for State Common
Entrance Test for Master in Engineering and Technology. The
petitioner cleared the said examined and was placed at
Sr.No.1054 in the provisional merit list for first year of Post
Graduate Technical Course of Engineering and Technology.
However, the respondent nos.1 and 2, contending that the
petitioner was not entitled for the aforesaid Course in view of the
Notification issued by the State of Maharashtra dated 11 th of
March, 2016, refused to grant admission to the petitioner. The
petitioner has, therefore approached this Court.
5. The brochure containing admission procedure and
Rules and Regulations for College of Engineering, Pune,
respondent no.3 herein, would reveal that total 31 number of
posts are available for M.Tech in Town and Country Planning. We
do not find it necessary to go into the Seats available for various
categories. However, note below availability Chart would show
that out of the posts available, seven posts are available for
Bachelor of Architecture in Open Category. Not only that but it
would also be relevant to refer to the eligibility criteria as
provided by the respondent no.3, which is as under :-
Sr.No Name of the Name of the program
ig Qualifying exam GATE
P.G.degree. subject
1 M.Tech a)Structural Engineering BE/B.Tech.in any
(Civil) branch of Civil
b)Geotechnical
Engineering domain.
Engineering
c)Construction
Civil
Management
d)Environment and
Water Resource
Engineering
_____________________ ______
____________________
e)Town and Country
Planning. BE/B,Tech.in any
branch of Civil
engineering domain OR Civil
B.,Arch/B.Planning/
G.D.Arch/New Diploma OR
in Architecture (Five Architect
years of full time) ure and
awarded by the planning
Government of
Maharashtra with one
year's Practical
Experience/ARIBA.
6. It could thus clearly be seen that for M.Tech in TownPIL
and Country Planning, the qualifying examination is BE/B.Tech in
any branch of Civil Engineering domain or Bachelor of
Architecture/Bachelor of Planning, etc. It could thus clearly be
seen that as per the eligibility criteria prescribed by respondent
no.3, the Bachelor of Architecture is one of the qualifying
examinations.
7. Inspite of that being the position, the respondent no.2
strenuously took a stand that the petitioner was not entitled to
admission in view of the Notification dated 11 th of March, 2016.
However, when the matter was called out in the morning, we had
perused the said notification and pointed out to the learned
Assistant Government Pleader that Schedule 'C' on which he was
relying pertains to Professional Education Diploma Courses. We
were amazed at blunder committed by the State Government in
mixing up the Diploma Courses with Post Graduate Degree
Courses. As such, we had requested the learned Assistant
Government Pleader to speak to the higher authorities in Highest
and Technical Education Department and to take instructions as
to whether the State Government was desirous of insisting upon
the said notification or the State Government would withdraw the
said notification. We had also made it clear that if State
Government insists of the applicability of the said notification, we
will be constrained with no other alternative but to pass a stricture
against the State Government for such casual approach in the
matter dealing with the Higher and Technical Education.
8. Shri Thakare, the learned Assistant Government Pleader
states that he has spoken to Shri Sitaram Kunte, Principal
Secretary, Higher and Technical Education and he has informed
that the State Government has withdrawn the notification dated
11th of March, 2016. Since the State Government has accepted
the apparent error and withdrawn the said Notification, we do not
find it necessary to observe any more on the said aspect.
However, we do hope that when the State Government issues
fresh notification, such glaring errors would not be permitted to
be continued.
When G.R.dated 11th of March, 2016 is being
withdrawn by the State Government then there should be no
impediment for the petitioner in getting an admission for M.Tech
(Civil) in the subject, Town and Country Planning, since the
petitioner is not only even otherwise qualified as per the
qualification specified by the respondent no.2 but also finds
placement in the merit list prepared by the respondent no.3.
9. In the result, the petition is allowed. Respondent No.3
is directed to forthwith admit the petitioner to the Master of
Technology Degree in Town and Country Planning subject.
Needless to state that the respondent no.2 shall grant approval to
the admission of the petitioner.
Rule is made absolute in aforesaid terms with no order
as to costs.
Steno copy of this order be furnished to the parties.
JUDGE JUDGE
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