Madras High Court
G.Arun Kumar vs The State Of Tamil Nadu on 6 January, 2021
W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
BEFORE THE MADURAI BENCH OF MADRAS HIGH COURT
DATED: 06.01.2021
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE G.R.SWAMINATHAN
W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
and
W.M.P.(MD)No.14501 of 2019
G.Arun Kumar ... Petitioner
-Vs-
1.The State of Tamil Nadu
Rep. by its Secretary,
Health Department,
Fort St.George,
Chennai.
2.The Director of Medical Education,
Directorate of Medical Education,
Kilpauk, Chennai – 10.
3.The Selection Committee,
Rep. by its Secretary,
Directorate of Medical Education,
No.162, Periyar E.V.R.High Road,
Kilpauk, Chennai – 600 010. ... Respondents
PRAYER: Petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India to
issue a Writ of Mandamus, directing the respondents to grant admission
to the petitioner for the MBBS Course under Physically Challenged
1/8
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
Category for the year 2019-20 in view of the Eligibility Certificate issued
by the Regional Medical Board/Rajiv Gandhi Government General
Hospital dated 21.05.2019 in the light of the judgment of this Court in
W.P.(MD)No.14777 of 2018 dated 23.04.2019 and the judgment of the
Hon'ble Division Bench in W.A.No.1788 of 2018 dated 28.08.2018
within the time period stipulated by this Court.
For Petitioner : Mr.T.Aswin Rajasimman
For Mr.T.Lajapathi Roy.
For Respondents : Mr.M.Rajarajan,
Additional Government Pleader.
ORDER
Heard the learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and the
learned Additional Government Pleader appearing for the respondents.
2.The writ petitioner is a physically challenged person and he
applied for admission to MBBS course under the said reserved category
for the academic year 2018-2019. He had secured 140 marks in NEET.
However, he was not granted admission because the selection committee
had disputed the certificate obtained by him. Therefore, the petitioner
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
had to file W.P.(MD)No.14777 of 2018. Vide order dated 23.04.2019,
I had directed the Director of Medical Education to constitute a fresh
Medical Board and give a certificate of eligibility. The Board constituted
by the second respondent confirmed the status of the petitioner as a
physically challenged individual. Since the academic year for which
admission was sought had expired, I had directed that the petitioner
could be considered for the next academic year. However, the
petitioner's case was not considered for the academic year 2019-2020
also. Therefore, the petitioner filed Cont.P.(MD)No.978 of 2019. The
respondents took the stand that the NEET marks obtained by the
candidate in the previous year could not be made use of for gaining
admission in the subsequent year. Since such a contentious issue was
raised, I felt that the same could not be gone into in contempt
jurisdiction. Therefore, giving liberty to the petitioner to file a fresh writ
petition, Cont.P.(MD)No.978 of 2019 was closed on 02.08.2019.
Availing the said liberty, the petitioner filed the present writ petition in
August, 2019. Inspite of best efforts taken by the learned counsel for the
petitioner as well as the innumerable letters written by the petitioner
himself, the writ petition could be taken for disposal only today
ie., 06.01.2021.
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
3.When the matter was taken up for hearing, the learned Additional
Government Pleader for the respondents states that all the seats for the
academic year 2020 – 2021 have already been filled up. Therefore, the
only question that arises for my consideration is whether the respondents
can be directed to admit the writ petitioner for the next academic year.
The learned counsel for the petitioner drew my attention to the judgment
of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in (2019) SCC Online SC 1609
(S.Krisha Sradha vs. The State of Andra Pradesh & Others). The three
Judge Bench of Hon'ble Supreme Court in paragraph 33 (iii) answered
the issue as follows:-
“(iii) In case the Court is of the opinion that no
relief of admission can be granted to such a candidate in
the very academic year and wherever it finds that the
action of the authorities has been arbitrary and in breach
of the rules and regulations or the prospectus affecting the
rights of the students and that a candidate is found to be
meritorious and such candidate/student has approached
the court at the earliest and without any delay, the court
can mould the relief and direct the admission to be
granted to such a candidate in the next academic year by
issuing appropriate directions by directing to increase in
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
the number of seats as may be considered appropriate in
the case and in case of such an eventuality and if it is
found that the management was at fault and wrongly
denied the admission to the meritorious candidate, in that
case, the Court may direct to reduce the number of seats
in the management quota of that year, meaning thereby
the student/students who was/were denied admission
illegally to be accommodated in the next academic year
out of the seats allotted in the management quota.”
4.Now I have to give a finding as to whether the case of the
petitioner would fall within the aforesaid ratio. No doubt, the petitioner
is physically challenged candidate. He was arbitrarily denied admission
for the academic year 2018-2019. The candidates who had secured lower
marks were given admission to MBBS Course under the physically
challenged quota. Therefore, I have to give a finding that the petitioner
was also meritorious. Now the question is whether, I can direct the
respondents to accommodate the petitioner under said quota for the
academic year 2020-2021/2021-2022. I am afraid that my hands are tied.
The Hon'ble Supreme Court authorizes the Court to direct admission of
the petitioner only in the succeeding year (next academic year). The
petitioner ought to have been admitted during the academic year
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
2018-2019. The next academic year would only be 2019-2020. It would
not be proper for this Court to direct the respondents to accommodate the
petitioner for the academic year 2021-2022. Even, if any seat falls
vacant for the current academic year namely, academic year 2020-2021, I
am not in a position to grant relief. Since the respondents had unfairly
denied medical seat to the petitioner during the academic year 2018-19,
the petitioner was constrained to move this Court thrice. The
respondents are to be blamed for this. I therefore direct the first
respondent to pay a sum of Rs.2.00 lakhs (Rupees Two Lakhs Only)
towards cost for the petitioner. The petitioner may utilise this amount for
payment of coaching fee and I can only wish him good luck in his
attempt to make it in the next academic year. This is because there is no
outer age limit for taking part in National Eligibility cum Entrance Test.
5.With this direction to pay cost, the writ petition is disposed of.
Consequently, connected miscellaneous petition is closed.
06.01.2021
Index : Yes/No
Internet : Yes/No
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
Note: 1.Issue order copy on 11.01.2021.
2.In view of the present lock down owing to
COVID-19 pandemic, a web copy of the order may
be utilized for official purposes, but, ensuring that
the copy of the order that is presented is the correct
copy, shall be the responsibility of the
advocate/litigant concerned.
To:
1.The Secretary,
Health Department,
Fort St.George,
Chennai.
2.The Director of Medical Education,
Directorate of Medical Education,
Kilpauk, Chennai – 10.
3.The Secretary,
The Selection Committee,
Directorate of Medical Education,
No.162, Periyar E.V.R.High Road,
Kilpauk, Chennai – 600 010.
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
G.R.SWAMINATHAN, J.
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W.P.(MD)No.18059 of 2019
06.01.2021
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