Delhi High Court
Rajanand. S vs Uoi And Ors. on 9 May, 2012
Author: Hima Kohli
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ W.P.(C) 8334/2011 and CM 18838/2011
Date of Decision: 9th May, 2012
IN THE MATTER OF
RAJANAND. S ..... Petitioner
Through: Ms. Resmitha R. Chandran, Advocate for
Mr. C.N. Sreekumar, Advocate
versus
UOI AND ORS. ..... Respondents
Through: Mr. Rattan Lal, Advocate for R-1/UOI
and R-2/VCI.
Mr. Harshad V. Hameed, Advocate with Mr. Dileep
Poolakkot, Advocate for R-3/University.
CORAM
HON'BLE MS.JUSTICE HIMA KOHLI
HIMA KOHLI, J. (Oral)
1. The petitioner has filed the present petition praying inter alia
for issuance of a writ of mandamus to the respondent No.1/UOI,
respondent No.2/Veterinary Council of India (in short 'VCI') and
respondent No.3/Kerala Veterinary University (in short 'University') to fill
up the vacant seats in veterinary colleges in Kerala or any other State in
India falling under the All India quota.
2. Counsel for the petitioner states that the petitioner had
completed his schooling in the year 2010 from Jawahar Navodaya
Vidyalaya Chettachal, Trivandrum, Kerala, whereafter he had applied for
admission to the veterinary colleges to pursue his Bachelor of Veterinary
Science and Animal Husbandry ('BVSc. & AH') course under the 15% All
India Quota by appearing in the All India Pre-Veterinary Test-2011 that
was held on 14.05.2011. The rank obtained by the petitioner in the
aforesaid test was 2139. As per the petitioner, upon queries made by
him, he came to know that there were two vacancies in the All India
Quota in the Mannoothi Veterinary College and similarly, there was one
vacant seat in the Pookot Veterinary College, both situated in the State of
Kerala, but no steps had been taken by respondent No.2/VCI to nominate
candidates for these vacancies. The grievance of the petitioner is that the
vacancies should not be allowed to remain unfilled and till they remain so,
the respondents have no right to close the admission. It is further stated
that as per the information received by the petitioner, the last admission
took place in the State quota as late as on 28.10.2011. The petitioner,
therefore, states that he be accommodated against one of the vacancies
in the 15% All India Quota.
3. Counter affidavits have been filed by respondent No.2/VCI
and respondent No.3/University. Learned counsels for respondent
No.2/VCI and respondent No.3/University state that the writ petition is
not maintainable for the reason that the petitioner cannot lay a claim to a
seat even if it is lying vacant under the 15% All India Quota for the
reason that he has secured rank No.2139 in the entrance test and his
name does not even feature in the waitlist. He states that the counselling
for all the merit listed candidates, i.e., from ranks No.1 to 263 was held
on 21st and 22nd July, 2011 for the BVSc. & AH course and some of the
seats had remained vacant after allocation of seats to the merit listed
candidates after the counselling. As a result, counselling was held for the
waitlisted candidates between 08.08.2011 to 11.08.2011 and those
candidates, who were placed in ranks No.264 to 663 were called for
counselling. Even thereafter, some seats had remained vacant and
therefore, it was decided to hold another round of counselling for the
candidates placed in ranks No.664 to 789 for filling up the remaining
vacant seats. Counselling was then held on 26.08.2011 and the selected
candidates were directed to report to the concerned Universities on or
before 31.08.2011. It is thus stated that the petitioner does not fulfill the
eligibility criteria for admission as prescribed in the regulations issued by
the VCI and even otherwise, the cut-off date of 31.08.2011 fixed for
admission in the course has long since passed and as the petitioner has
approached this Court as late as in the end of November 2011, and by
now the entire academic year is virtually over and the examinations for
the first term are going on, the present petition is liable to be dismissed
on account of delay and laches.
4. A perusal of the schedule of dates for the examination shows
that the candidates were required to approach the respondent No.2/VCI
for purchasing the application forms between 3rd January to 15th
February, 2011 and the last date of receiving of the applications was fixed
as 22.02.2011. The date of All India Pre-Veterinary Test was fixed as
14.05.2011 and the results were expected to be declared in the first half
of June, 2011. It is not the case of the petitioner that respondent
No.2/VCI had not adhered to the aforesaid schedule of dates and
therefore, the inevitable conclusion is that the petitioner was well aware
of his rank immediately after the results were declared in the month of
June 2011. The present petition was however filed by the petitioner on
23.11.2011, which is highly belated, more so when the last date for the
candidates to take admission in the concerned universities was fixed as
31.08.2011. There is merit in the objection taken by the other side that
the present petition is liable to be dismissed on the ground of delay and
latches alone. Even on merits, this Court is inclined to agree with the
submission made by the learned counsel for respondent No.2/VCI that the
petitioner is not even a waitlisted candidate having secured rank No.2139
in the All India Pre-Veterinary Test-2011 and therefore, he cannot lay a
claim to a seat merely because some seats are lying vacant in the 15%
All India Quota. The respondents are not mandated to fill up vacant seats
with non-meritorious candidates only because seats are going abegging.
5. In view of the aforesaid position, the present petition is dismissed
alongwith the pending application on the count of delay and latches as
also on merits, while leaving the parties to bear their own costs.
(HIMA KOHLI)
MAY 9, 2012 JUDGE
rkb/mk
