CHOWDHURY NAVIN HEMABHAI Vs. STATE OF GUJARAT

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted.

(2.) The Appellants belong to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes and they have in this Civil Appeal challenged the judgment of the Division Bench of the High Court of Gujarat in Special Civil Application No. 9526 of 2009, refusing to quash the communication of the Medical Council of India for discharging them from the MBBS course to which they had been admitted.

(3.) The facts briefly are that the Medical Council of India (for short "the MCI") prescribed inter alia in its regulations called "The Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997" (for short "the MCI Regulations") that candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes must have obtained a minimum of 40% marks together in Physics, Chemistry and Biology at the qualifying examination and, in addition, 40% marks in Physics, Chemistry and Biology taken together in the competitive examination for admission to the MBBS course. The State Government of Gujarat also made rules under the Gujarat Professional Medical Educational Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Fixation of Fees) Act, 2007 called "The Gujarat Professional Medical Educational Colleges or Institutions (Regulation of Admission and Payment of Fees) Rules, 2008" (for short "the State Rules, 2008"). Rule 5(1) (iv) of the State Rules, 2008 provided that for admission to a professional college, a candidate must have passed the qualifying examination and must have appeared in the common entrance test of Gujarat. A notification was issued by the State Government under Rule 12 of the State Rules, 2008 prescribing the minimum marks in the qualifying examination for admission to MBBS course for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (excluding Creamy layer) candidates as 40% in Physics, Chemistry and Biology.