Delhi High Court
Manisha V. vs University Of Delhi & Ors on 9 September, 2009
Author: Anil Kumar
IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
% Date of decision: 09.09.2009
W.P(C) No.5385/2008
# Manisha V. ......... PETITIONER
! Through: Through: Mr.G.C. Nagar, Advocate.
Versus
$ University of Delhi & Ors ......... RESPONDENTS
Through: Mr.Anurag Mathur, Advocate for
the respondents No.1 & 2.
Mr.Pawan Kumar Aggarwal,
Advocate for the respondent No.4.
AND
W.P(C) No.11469/2009
# Manisha V. ......... PETITIONER
!
Through: Mr.Y.P. Narula, Sr. Advocate with
Mr.Aniruddha Chaudhary, Advocate
Versus
$ University of Delhi & Ors ......... RESPONDENTS
Through: Ms.Maninder Acharya, Advocate
for the respondent No.1 & 2.
Ms.Zubeda Begum, Advocate for
the respondent No.3.
CORAM :-
* HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE ANIL KUMAR
1. Whether reporters of Local papers may be allowed YES
to see the judgment?
2. To be referred to the reporter or not ? YES
3. Whether the judgment should be reported YES
in the Digest?
WP (C) 11469 of 2009 & WP (C) No. 5385 of 2008 Page 1 of 17
ANIL KUMAR, J.
1. The petitioner has filed civil writ petition being CWP
No.5385/2008 seeking a direction to set aside the order dated 15th July,
2008 of respondent No.2, the Registrar, University of Delhi, Faculty of
Medical Sciences cancelling the admission of petitioner to the University
College of Medical Sciences and to declare the Clause 2.4.3 of Bulletin
of Information for DUMAT 2008 as ultra vires.
2. The petitioner in writ petition CWP No.11469/2009 has sought a
seat in MBBS course on the basis of her 49th merit rank in DUMAT held
in 2009 and has sought admission in the University College for Medical
Sciences on the basis of All India criterion for reserving the seats for ST
candidates.
3. The petitioner had passed her 10th class examination from the
Delhi in the year 2005, however she did her 12th class from Kota,
Rajasthan in 2007. The petitioner appeared in the entrance
examination for admission to the medical colleges in Delhi. Under the
regulations for DUMAT 2008, the candidates who had passed 12th class
examination under 10+2 system conducted by CBSE/Council of the
Indian School Certificate Examination/Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
were eligible. The eligibility conditions restrict admission to those
candidates who had studied 11th and 12th classes regularly from a
recognized school in Delhi. The relevant condition 2.4.2 and 2.4.3 are
as under:-
"2.4.2 Candidates who have passed 12th class examination
under 10+2 system conducted by CBSE/Council of the
Indian School Certificate Examination/Jamia Millia
Islamia, New Delhi with required subjects i.e Physics,
Chemistry, Biology, and English from the recognized
schools conducting regular classes situated within the
National Capital Territory of Delhi only, will be eligible for
admission. The candidate must have studied 11th and 12th
classes regularly from a recognized school within the
National Capital Territory of Delhi. Further, the candidate
must have passed in the subjects of Physics, Chemistry,
Biology and English individually and must have obtained a
minimum of 50% marks (40% marks in case of SC/ST
category candidates) taken together in Physics, Chemistry
and Biology.
2.4.3 Female candidates belonging to SC category, ST
category and CWWAPP category who have passed the
qualifying examination from Indian Universities/Boards or
Foreign Universities/Boards are eligible for admission to
Lady Hardinge Medical College only against the seats
reserved for these categories, subject to their fulfilling the
prescribed conditions."
4. Though the candidates who had done 11th and 12th from a
recognized school within the National Capital Territory of Delhi only
were eligible for admission to the colleges under the Faculty of Medical
Sciences, however, an exception had been carved out for the female
candidates belonging to reserved candidates for admissions to Lady
Hardinge Medical College only and therefore female candidates under
reserved category were also eligible though they had not passed their
11th and 12th class from a school or institution from Delhi. Under the
vacancies available for admission in MBBS course 10 vacancies were
reserved for scheduled tribe category candidate in Lady Hardinge
Medical College and for these vacancies female candidates from outside
Delhi category were also eligible for admission.
5. The petitioner applied for admission and after entrance
examination her rank was 93 against ST quota. The petitioner attended
the counseling on 9th July, 2008 and was directed to meet the principal
in UCMS. The petitioner was required to complete all the formalities by
18th July, 2008. The petitioners assertion is that when she went to
deposit the fees in University College of Medical Sciences on 12th July,
2008, the fees was not accepted and later on she received a letter dated
15th July, 2008 cancelling her admission to UCMS on the ground that
she had not passed her class 12th examination from Delhi and she had
passed her class 12th examination from Rajasthan. The letter intimated
her that she is eligible for admission to MBBS course in Lady Hardinge
Medical College only and not in any other college under Faculty of
Medical Sciences in Delhi.
6. The petitioner assailed the order dated 15th July, 2008 cancelling
her admission to University College for Medical Sciences and filed the
writ petition No.5385/2008 challenging the eligibility conditions 2.4.2
and 2.4.3 on the ground that respondent No.1 has arbitrarily given
preference to the place of study and territory with regard to the
eligibility of ST category candidates for admission in MBBS course in
two of its colleges out of three colleges. The ground for challenge by the
petitioner was also that reservation policy is being implemented in an
arbitrary manner and the admission to MBBS course is open to all
candidates, who qualify class 12th examination from all over India and
consequently for admission to the colleges in Delhi, cannot be restricted
to the candidates who have passed the qualifying examinations, 11th
and 12th Class from Delhi.
7. During the pendency of the writ petition, CWP No.5385/2008 the
petitioner has filed another petition being CWP No.11469/2009 seeking
admission to the University College of Medical Sciences on the basis of
All India criterion of reserving the seats for ST candidates by UGC and
on the basis of her result for 2009-2010 examination.
8. Mr.Narula, learned senior counsel for the petitioner has relied on
the guidelines of University Grants Commission for implementation for
reservation policy of the Government in the University, deemed to be
Universities, College and other Grant-in-Aid Institutions and Centers
which are deemed to be Universities having grants in aids from the
public exchequer. It is contended that the percentage of reservation in
admissions and recruitment in teaching and non teaching post has to
be 15% for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes. It is also
contended that the reservation is applicable to all admissions to
Undergraduate, Post Graduate and M.Phil and PhD courses of
Educational Institutions getting grant in aid or reserved institutions
and centers.
9. The admission to Undergraduate courses in three medical
colleges, University College of Medical Sciences (UCMS), Maulana Azad
Medical College (MAMC) and Lady Hardinge Medical College (LHMC) are
made centralized by faculty of Medical sciences through a common
entrance test. The policy pertaining to medical courses of the
Government of India is followed by the faculty of medical sciences
providing 7.5% reservation to ST candidates and 15% to SC candidates.
The petitioner appeared in DUMAT and obtained 49th rank from the
category of scheduled tribes in entrance examination for 2009-2010.
10. The petition is contested by the respondent Nos.1 & 2 who filed
the counter affidavit dated 30th July, 2008 in CWP 5385 of 2008
contending inter-alia that for admission in any of the three medical
colleges affiliated to Delhi University, the candidate should have passed
11th and 12th class from a recognized school within the National Capital
Territory of Delhi. It was asserted that since the petitioner had not done
her 12th class from Delhi and she had done her 12th class from
Rajasthan, therefore, she was not eligible in terms of Para 2.4.2 and
2.4.3 of Bulletin of Information. The respondents contended that such
reservation has already been upheld in the case of State of Haryana by
the Supreme Court in the matter of Anant Madaan v. State of Haryana,
(1995) 2 SCC 135. The respondent‟s plea is that the petitioner was
considered for admission under the reserved category seats in Lady
Hardinge Medical College, however, on account of her merit position
petitioner had not been given admission. Regarding the rationale for
admitting the female candidates even from outside, it ahs been
contended that Lady Hardinge Medical College is different from other
two colleges as Lady Hardinge Medical College is meant for lady
candidates exclusively and, therefore, even in the reserved category
seats a relaxation has been given for admission in the Lady Hardinge
Medical College admitting students who have not done their 11th and
12th classes from Delhi and reserved female candidates even from
outside are eligible, however, this relaxation cannot be extended to
other colleges and other candidates of other categories.
11. Maulana Azad Medical College is stated to be a medical college
which is run and administered by the Government of NCT of Delhi and
it is asserted that there is no reservation for women candidate in the
said college. University College of Medical Sciences was pleaded to be
attached to Guru Tegh Bahadur Hospital which is under the control of
Government of NCT of Delhi. According to the respondents pursuant to
the directions of the Supreme Court of India, the decision was taken by
the Government of India that the said college would be run exclusively
by Delhi Government and the said college does not have any reservation
for women candidates as against the Lady Hardinge Medical College
which is administered by the Government of India. The respondents
also relied on historical reasons and contended that Lady Hardinge
Medical College is a very old college and the seats are filled up on All
India basis for female candidates of reserved category.
12. The respondent also contended that the seats reserved for
scheduled tribes candidates in all the three colleges are 27 (LHMC 10,
MAMC 11, UCMS 6) and as against 27 seats the merit position/rank of
the petitioner is 93 in overall list of scheduled tribes categories and,
therefore, even on the plea of the petitioner she was not entitled for
admission to UCMS college being the scheduled tribe candidate, though
she was not eligible for admission to said college. Regarding the
admission of the petitioner in UCMS, it was further contended that the
issuance of papers for admissions were erroneous and before the fees
could be deposited by the petitioner, the mistake came to light and,
therefore, the offer of provisional admission made to the petitioner was
cancelled by letter dated 15ht July, 2008.
13. An additional affidavit dated 27th September, 2008 was filed by
Dr.A.K.Dubey, Registrar, Delhi University stating inter-alia that there
were 10 seats in Lady Hardinge Medical College and all have been filled
up. The last candidate admitted under the said category was at rank
No.22 and she had secured 441 marks. In comparison to the last
candidate with the rank of 22 admitted in the reserved category rank of
the petitioner was 93 and the petitioner had obtained only 326 marks in
the entrance examination for 2008-2009. It was stated that there were
58 candidates higher in merit to the petitioner in the outside Delhi
category. Regarding petitioner it was reiterated that she was not eligible
for admission in MAMC and University College of Medial Sciences and
according to her merit ranking she could not be granted admission in
Lady Hardinge Medical College.
14. An affidavit dated 5th December, 2008 was also filed by Dr. (Prof)
O.P.Kalra, principal stating that University College of Medical Sciences
is a maintained institution of University of Delhi and is funded by UGC
getting 100% maintenance grant through Ministry of Human Resource
Development. It was contended that the medical college is recognized by
Medical Council of India under Section 10A of Indian Medical Council
Act, 1956. It was categorically contended that the admission policy
pertaining to medical courses of the Government of India is being
strictly followed providing 7.5% reservation to ST candidates and 15%
to SC candidates of the allocated seats. It was pleaded that medical
colleges affiliated to University are under the faculty of medical sciences
University of Delhi and the admission to Undergraduate/Postgraduate
courses are made centralized by the faculty of medical sciences. In the
circumstances, it was asserted that the admission is to be made by
faculty of medical sciences even in respect of University college of
medical sciences and University College of Medical Sciences does not
have an independent role.
15. Another affidavit of Sh.Saurabh Kr.Jaipuriyar, Officiating
Registrar of Delhi University has been filed stating that seats under ST
category are 10 in LHMC and all have been filled up and there is no
vacancy. For the entrance examination of 2009-2010 it is stated that
the last candidate admitted under the ST category had a rank No.13
who had secured 416 marks and the rank of the petitioner is 49 and
she has obtained 323 marks. Regarding MAMC it was stated that there
are 11 ST seats and only Delhi candidates are eligible and out of 11, 6
seats were filled up under ST category and 5 seats were diverted to SC
category. In University College of Medical Sciences since no ST
candidate was available all the seats have been diverted to SC category
16. The petitioner‟s plea is that the respondents cannot be permitted
to put such a restriction for admission to ST women candidates only to
one of the colleges which according to the petitioner is unreasonable.
The plea is that university is financed by Government of India and,
therefore, respondent No.1 is supposed to follow the norms, rules,
procedures and guidelines issued by UGC and Clause inserted in the
information bulletin restricting the admission to the reserved category
candidates from outside Delhi only to one college is violative of
fundamental rights of the petitioner.
17. In the circumstances, the plea for consideration is whether
preference in admission on the basis of residence as well institutional
preference is permissible or not. The Supreme Court in Jagdish Saran
(Dr.) v. Union of India, (1980) 2 SCC 768 had held that regional
preference or preference on the ground of residence in granting
admission to medical college is not arbitrary or unreasonable so long as
it is not a wholesale reservation on this basis. Considering the various
reasons including that in a particular region there may be limited
opportunities for technical education while the region may require such
technically qualified persons and since the candidates who are
residents of a particular region are more likely to remain in that region
and serve that region, in such case if the candidates are preferred for
admission to technical institutions of a particular region, the same
cannot be termed without any rationale. The Supreme Court was of the
view that a state which was short of medical personnel would be
justified in giving preference to its own residents in medical colleges as
these residents, after qualifying as doctors, are more likely to remain in
the State and give their services to their State. In Jagdish Saran (Supra)
the Court had observed that in case of women students, regional or
residential preference may be justified as their parents may not be
willing to send them outside the State for medical education.
18. In Pradeep Jain (Dr.) v. Union of India, (1984) 3 SCC 654 it was
held that certain percentage of reservation on the basis of residence
requirement may legitimately be made in order to equalize opportunities
for medical admission on a broader basis and to bring about real and
not formal, actual and not merely legal, equality. In that case the
Supreme Court had held that the reservation to the extent of 70% on
this basis would be permissible. This percentage was, however,
increased to 85% in the case of Dinesh Kumar (Dr) v. Motilal Nehru
Medical College, (1986) 3 SCC 727. The Supreme Court again in case of
Anant Madaan v. State of Haryana and Ors, (1995) 2 SCC 135 had
upheld the reservation of 85% of seats on the basis of candidates
having studied for preceding three years in recognized schools/colleges
in Haryana. In State of Haryana 15% seats had to be filled in on All
India basis. It was held that the criterion, therefore, is in conformity
with the other decisions of the Supreme Court and such a classification
was held not to be arbitrary or unreasonable or violated of Article 14 of
the Constitution of India.
19. A Single Judge of this Court in (2003) V AD (Delhi) 68, Santosh
Meena v. University of Delhi had upheld the restriction in admission on
the basis of a candidate passing class 11th and 12th from Delhi for being
eligible for admission in Delhi. In Santosh Meena (Supra) the candidate
had undergone only 12th class examination in Delhi and in the
circumstances relying on Pradeep Jain and Ors (Supra) had held that
the law to enforce condition prescribing that class XI and XII should be
completed for Delhi for being eligible for admission in Delhi, cannot be
faulted and, therefore, it was held that the candidate Santosh Meena
was not eligible for admission in Delhi.
20. Under the eligibility condition 2.4.3 of the bulletin of information,
the admission to medical colleges in Delhi is restricted to those
candidates who have passed 12th class examination under 10+2 system
conducted by CBSE/Council for Indian School Certificate
Examination/Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi within the National
Capital Territory of Delhi and to those candidates who have studied 11th
and 12th classes regularly from the recognized schools, therefore,
cannot be faulted in the facts and circumstances. The reservation of not
all the seats but some of the seats to only those candidates who qualify
11th and 12th classes from Delhi, therefore, cannot be quashed. Even in
this reservation, a further classification, an exception has been made
whereby the woman candidate of reserved category though they may be
from outside Delhi and may not have done class 11th and 12th , are
eligible for admission in Lady Hardinge Medical College. If this
concession is given only for lady Hardinge Medical College, the
petitioner cannot claim that same relaxation must be given for other
two colleges that is University College of Medical Sciences and Maulana
Azad Medical College. Therefore, the plea of the petitioner that clause
2.4.2 and 2.4.3 is not valid cannot be sustained and is rejected. The
petitioner had not been given admission pursuant to entrance
examination of 2008 as the rank of the petitioner was below the rank of
the last candidate admitted in the reserved category. Therefore, the
petitioner could not make a grievance for not getting admission in lady
Hardinge Medical College as no candidate in reserved category below
the rank of the petitioner had been granted admission. The petitioner is
not entitled for admission to University College of Medical Sciences and
Maulana Azad Medical College. Therefore, the prayer contained in the
petition cannot be granted nor it can be held that the petitioner is
entitled for admission to University College of Medical Sciences on the
basis of her result in common entrance test of 2008-2009.
21. The petitioner had not been formally admitted in the University
College of Medical Sciences for the session 2008-2009 and the letter
dated 15th July, 2008 was issued to her before the petitioner could
deposit her fees, as it transpired that the petitioner was not eligible for
admission as she had not done her 12th class from Delhi. In the
circumstances, there are no grounds for cancelling the letter dated 15th
July, 2008 and the cancelling the provisional admission letter dated 9th
July, 2008 issued to the petitioner for admission to MBBS course under
quota in ST category at University College of Medical Sciences.
22. In the writ petition CWP No.11469/2009 the petitioner has
sought admission to University College of Medical Sciences on the basis
of her 49th rank in DUMAT held in 2009 and on the ground that there
should be 15% reservation for scheduled castes and 7.5% in scheduled
tribes in University College of Medical Sciences relying on the UGC
guidelines for implementation of reservation policy of the Government in
the Universities, Deemed Universities, Colleges and other grant-in-aid
Institutions and centers. From the additional affidavit dated 1st
September, 2009 filed on behalf of respondents in the writ petition
No.5385/2008, it is apparent that the last candidate admitted under
the category of reserved candidate had a rank 13 and had secured 416
marks. The rank of the petitioner for 2009 DUMAT entrance
examination is 49 and she has obtained only 323 marks. There are 13
more candidates higher in merit to the petitioner and therefore, she
cannot be admitted to Lady Hardinge Medical College. Petitioner also
cannot be admitted to University College of Medical Sciences as she is
not eligible for admission to said college as she has not done her class
12th from a school and institution from Delhi.
23. The plea of the petitioner that the reservation in the colleges
under the Faculty of Medical Sciences is not 15% for SC and 7.5% for
ST is also not correct. There is a reservation of 15% for SC and 7.5% for
ST, however, petitioner cannot insist that there must be a reservation of
7.5% of ST for the candidate who have not done 11th or 12th class from
Delhi. From the affidavits filed on behalf of the respondents it is
apparent that the reservation of the seats for SC and ST is in
accordance with the guidelines of University Grants Commission. In the
facts and circumstances there is no violation of the policy of University
Grants Commissions and the UGC guidelines for implementation of
reservation policy of the Government in Universities, deemed to be
Universities, Colleges and other grant-in-aid institutions and centers.
24. The petitioner is not entitled for admission to University College of
Medical Sciences as she is not eligible for admission there and she is
not entitled for admission in Lady Hardinge Medical College as the last
candidate admitted in the said college had rank much higher than the
49 rank of the petitioner in DUMAT 2009 examination. The writ petition
CWP No.11469/2009 is, therefore, also without any merit and the
petitioner is not entitled for any relief and the writ petition is, therefore,
dismissed.
25. Consequently, writ petition CWP No.5385/2008 for admission on
the basis of the result of the petitioner in DUMAT 2008 is dismissed
and the writ petition CWP No.11469/2009 for admission on the basis of
DUMAT 2009 is also dismissed. Parties are, however, left to bear their
own cost.
September 9th , 2009 ANIL KUMAR, J.
„K‟
