Rajasthan High Court

Manashvi Pachar D/O Shri Mahipal Pachar vs Union Of India on 13 August, 2024

Author: Sameer Jain

Bench: Sameer Jain

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        HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN
                    BENCH AT JAIPUR

                 S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 11060/2024

Manashvi Pachar D/o Shri Mahipal Pachar, Aged About 18 Years,
R/o Ward No. 44, Choudhary Charan Singh Nagar, Nawalgarh
Road, Sikar, District Sikar, Rajasthan 332001
                                                                     ----Petitioner
                                     Versus
1.       Union Of India, Employees State Insurance Corporation,
         Ministry Of Labour And Employment, Government Of
         India, Through Its Director General, Panchdeep Bhawan,
         Comrade Indrajeet Gupta (Cig) Marg, New Delhi - 110002
2.       Employees State Insurance Corporation, Through Its
         Deputy Director, Regional Office, Panchdeep Bhawan,
         Bhawani Singh Road, Jaipur-302001
3.       Medical Commissioner, Medical Services And Medical
         Education, Employees State Insurance Corporation,
         Panchdeep Bhawan, Comrade Indrajeet Gupta (Cig) Marg,
         New Delhi - 110002
                                                                  ----Respondents

For Petitioner(s) : Mr. R. N. Mathur, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Ankit Kumar Mr. Shovit Jhajharia For Respondent(s) : Mr. A. S. Khangarot Mr. Arnav Singh for Mr. Sandeep Pathak

HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE SAMEER JAIN Order

Reserved on:- 26/07/2024 Pronounced on:- 13/08/2024

1. The instant petition is filed with the following prayers:

"(i) By appropriate writ, order or direction the respondent may be directed to allow necessary corrections i.e 'Manashvi Pachar' may be replaced from 'Manshvi' in the application form of the petitioner for issuance of 'Ward of IP certificate'.

(ii) Consequently, her name may be included in the list of 'Ward of IP' and 'Ward of IP Certificate' may be issued to her which allows her to be considered for UG MBBS seat.

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(iii) Any other just and suitable order in favour of the petitioner may also be passed."

2. The factual narrative of the matter in hand is that the

respondents issued an admission notice on 24.04.2024, inviting

applications for issuance of 'Ward of Insured Persons' Certificate

(hereinafter, referred as IP Certificate) for admission in under-

graduate courses such as MBBS/BDS/B.Sc Nursing in ESIC

Medical/Dental/Nursing Colleges, and certain other Government

Medical Colleges, under the seats allocated for the 'Wards of

Insured Persons' category, for the academic session 2024-25. It is

pertinent to mention that the said admission notice categorically

stated the procedure to apply, the requisite documents that were

supposed to be uploaded, and the cut-off date of the said

application forms.

3. Pursuant to the said admission notice, the petitioner filled

her application form on 05.05.2021. It would be apposite to state

that the E-Pehchan Card (Insurance No. 1511378227) of the

mother of the petitioner i.e. Smt. Koushalya Devi has been issued

way back in the year 2021, when the petitioner was a student of

IX standard. In the family details section of the said card, the

name of the petitioner has been mentioned as 'Manshvi'.

4. Thereafter, the petitioner has applied for NEET (UG), 2024

Examination wherein, she has filled the form under the name

'Manashvi Pachar'. Along with all the other requisite documents,

such as the Secondary School Mark-sheet (Year 2022), the

petitioner has also uploaded her and her mother's non-judicial

affidavit wherein, her name is reflected as 'Manashvi Pachar' and

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her beneficiary IP Certificate ID as 1511378227. (Annexure-3). To

substantiate the aforementioned the petitioner has also annexed a

copy of her NEET (UG) Examination, 2024 admit card and

application form wherein, her name is reflected as 'Manashvi

Pachar' (Annexure-5) and her updated AADHAR Card (Annexure-

6).

5. Howsoever, the respondents have rejected the petitioner's

application form qua issuance of IP Certificate, due to the

mismatch of the credentials of the petitioner's name in her

mother's certificate under which she is a beneficiary and the other

documents.

6. In this backdrop, learned counsel representing the petitioner

has submitted that the petitioner through a cyber café filled her

application form for issuance of IP Certificate on 05.05.2024.

However, due to a technical glitch the petitioner could not check

the correction necessitated or status of her application form.

Thereafter, the petitioner's application for issuance of IP Certificate

remained pending till 27.05.2024 and the online portal closed on

30.05.2024.

7. At this juncture, learned counsel has placed reliance upon

various annexed documents, to substantiate the aforementioned

contention that the petitioner has had her name as 'Manashvi

Pachar' in all other documents. Moreover, an application has been

filed before the concerned authorities to correct the petitioner's

name in the E-Pehchan Card. (Annexure-7).

8. Aggrieved of the afore-stated situation, the petitioner filed a

representation at the ESIC, (Head-quarters) New Delhi Office, on

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14.06.2024. However, the said representation had been rejected.

In furtherance of the said representation the petitioner had also

sent an E-mail to the Director General, ESIC on 23.06.2024.

Howsoever, the petitioner received a revert stating 'the request

had already been rejected'.

9. In support of the foregoing contentions, the learned counsel

for the petitioner has placed reliance upon the ratio encapsulated

in Charles K. Skaria & Ors. Vs. Dr. C. Mathew & Ors. reported

in (1980) 2 SCC 752 and Dolly Chhanda Vs. Chairman JEE

reported in (2005) 9 SCC 779.

10. Per contra, learned counsel representing the respondents has

submitted that the petitioner had ample of opportunities and time

to carry out requisite corrections prior to the cut-off date i.e.

30.05.2024. Nevertheless, the petitioner has failed to attain the

available efficacious mode of correction. It is further submitted

that the said admission notice dated 24.04.2024 categorically

stated the requisite conditions and hence, it is the sanity of every

individual who is filling the form for attaining the IP Certificate, to

abide by the due process with utmost cautiousness and sincerity.

11. However, learned counsel has not refuted the factual

narrative of the instant matter and has fairly conceded with the

fact that the petitioner is a beneficiary under her mother's E-

Pehchan Card, bearing insurance No. 1511378227.

12. Heard and considered.

13. Upon an assiduous scanning of the record, considering the

aforementioned facts and circumstances of the case and taking

note of the arguments averred by the learned counsel for both the

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parties, this Court at this juncture, deems it appropriate to jot

down indubitable facts:-

13.1 That the petitioner is a meritorious student, who had

appeared in NEET (UG) Examination, 2024. Moreover, the afore-

stated error is bonafide and an inadvertent mistake and due to a

technical glitch the petitioner could not check /make the requisite

corrections and the status of her application, prior to the cut-off

date.

13.2 That in pursuant to the admission notice dated

24.04.2024, the petitioner had applied to attain her IP Certificate

on 05.05.2024.

13.3 That the petitioner's application form had been kept in

limbo till 27.05.2024, thereafter, the online portal closed on

30.05.2024.

13.4 That aggrieved of the aforementioned situation the

petitioner has submitted a representation followed by an e-mail to

the ESIC Head-quarters office, Delhi and Director General, ESIC

respectively. However, the said representations have been

rejected.

13.5 That substantial proof is placed on record to

corroborate the contentions averred by the learned counsel for the

petitioner. More specifically the petitioners' updated AADHAR Card,

Secondary Mark-sheet, NEET (UG) Examination, 2024 admit card

etc. wherein, the petitioners' name is reflected as 'MANASHVI

PACHAR' (Annexure No. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6).

13.6 That during the currency of the dispute in hand on

15.06.2024, the petitioner has already applied before the

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concerned authorities to correct and update her name in the E-

Pehchan Card. However, the same is under consideration as on

date. (Annexure- 7)

14. Considering the foregoing facts and circumstances, the

primary issue before this Court is that whether issuance of IP

Certificate can be rejected on a solitary ground that the candidate

has filled distinguishable credentials (in the matter in hand, the

petitioner has not entered her full name), albeit the fact that the

petitioner herein, is undisputedly a beneficiary under her mother's

E-Pehchan Card, bearing insurance No. 1511378227?

15. In this regard this Court deems it apposite to place reliance

upon the ratio encapsulated in Dolly Chhanda (Supra).

Explicating it further, it is a paramount principle that has also been

upheld by Hon'ble Supreme Court in a catena of judgments that

the pre-requisite condition to attain admission in any institution is

that the candidate is in due possession of all the documents qua

the minimum eligibility criteria, as prescribed in the scheme of

advertisement. Furnishing of documents qua which certain

reservation is claimed is a subsidiary condition. Hence, the cut-off

date and amendment policy qua the same is subject to liberal and

beneficial interpretation. The relevant extract from the dictum

enunciated in Dolly Chhanda (Supra) is reproduced herein

below:

"The general rule is that while applying for any course of study or a post, a person must possess the eligibility qualification on the last date fixed for such purpose either in the admission brochure or in application form, as the case may be, unless there is an express provision to the contrary. There can be no relaxation in this regard i.e. in the matter of holding the requisite eligibility

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qualification by the date fixed. This has to be established by producing the necessary certificates, degrees or mark-sheets. Similarly, in order to avail of the benefit of reservation or weightage etc. necessary certificates have to be produced. These are documents in the nature of proof of holding of particular qualification or percentage of marks secured or entitlement for benefit of reservation. Depending upon the facts of a case, there can be some relaxation in the matter of submission of proof and it will not be proper to apply any rigid principle as it pertains in the domain of procedure. Every infraction of the rule relating to submission of proof need not necessarily result in rejection of candidature."

16. In light of the above stated, this Court is inclined to allow the

instant petition, for the reasons stated herein below:

16.1 It is an undisputed fact that the petitioner is a child of

an Insured Person and is therefore eligible to avail the said benefit

under the ESI Act, 1948. As per the admission policy for under-

graduate (MBBS/ BDS) admissions for academic year 2024-25 as

expounded in the admission notice dated 24.04.2024, the

petitioner duly fulfills the mandate as noted in Serial No. 9. For

the sake of convenience, the said condition is reproduced herein

below:

9. 'Ward of Insured Person' will be children/ child of an Insured Person who are/ is eligible for benefit under the ESI Act as on the last date of submission of application form for NEET (UG) for the relevant year.

16.2 The instant issue is merely on account of a bonafide

and inadvertent mistake of the petitioner. Moreover, the same has

occurred due to lack of proper internet connectivity and technical

glitch.