KUMARI SUNEETA RAMCHANDRA KOYALAMUDY Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Appeal by Special Leave granted by this Court is directed against the judgment and order of the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court whereby the High Court dismissed with no order as to the costs the writ petition under Article, 226 of the Constitution of India (being Writ Petition No. 1683 of 1985) filed by the Appellant seeking admission in the Medical College, Nagpur.

(2.) The facts giving rise to this appeal require to be briefly stated. The Appellant's father, who is in the service of the Central Government and was working in the Geological Survey of India, was transferred on March 3, 1983, from Hyderabad in the State of Andhra Pradesh to Nagpur in the State of Maharashtra. In 1983 the Appellant passed the S.S.C. examination of the Board of Secondary Education, Andhra Pradesh, in First Division. After coming to Nagpur along with her father she joined Hislop College, Nagpur, from where she passed in 1985 the H.S.C. (XII Standard) Examination of the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Education, Nagpur Divisional Board, Nagpur, in First Division, this being one of the qualifying examinations for admission to the medical colleges in the State of Maharashtra. Accordingly, she applied for admission to the M.B.B.S. course at the two Government colleges which are at Nagpur, namely, the Nagpur Medical College and the Indira Gandhi Medical College. Under the rules, the application forms for admission to these colleges are to be sent to the Dean, Medical College, Nagpur, who is the Second Respondent before us. She based her claim for admission upon Rule C(6)(ii) of the Medical Colleges of the Government of Maharashtra Rules for Admission, 1985-86 (hereinafter referred to as "the 1985-86 Rules"). Not having secured admission to either of the said two medical colleges. at Nagpur, she filed a writ petition before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court which was dismissed by the High Court negativing the construction sought to be placed upon the said Rule C(6)(ii) by the Appellant. It is against this judgment and order that the present appeal by Special Leave is filed.

(3.) Though a number of contentions have been raised in the Petition for Special Leave, in view of the interpretation we are placing upon Rule C(6)(ii) of the 1985-86 Rules, it is unnecessary to go into any other question. The 1985-86 Rules are an annexure to the Government of Maharashtra Resolution in the Medical Education and Drugs Department No. MPD-1084/7575/MED-4 dated December 21, 1984. This Resolution shows that the rules for admission into the medical colleges were revised and substituted by the 1985-86 Rules in view of certain judgments of the Bombay High Court, namely, the judgments in Writ Petitions Nos. 1753 of 1982, 2360 of 1983 and 3238 of 1984 and the judgment of. this Court in Dr. Pradeep Jain v. Union of India, (1984) 3 SCR 942 relating to reservation of seats in Government medical colleges in the State. Leaving aside unnecessary details, it will be sufficient to state that Rule C(5) provides that in addition to the qualifications set out earlier only those candidates would be eligible for admission to the medical colleges who have passed the S.S.C. or Senior Cambridge or Indian School Certificate or equivalent examination from any of the recognized schools in the Maharashtra State. Rule C(6) contains certain exceptions to Rule C(5). We are concerned in this Appeal with the second exception contained in Rule C(6) (ii). The said Rule C(6)(ii) provides as follows: