G S RADHIKA Vs. COMMR FOR HEALTH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners in these four writ petitions have prayed for issue of a writ of mandamus directing the Selection Committee constituted by the State Government for marking selections for the I Year MBBS., course during the academic year 1980-81 to consider their cases for selection treating the candidates who have passed the Pre-University examination held in April 1980 as a separate class.

(2.) All the four petitioners have passed the Pre-University examination held by the Pre-University Board of this State in April 1980. The petitioner in W. P. No. 10081 cf 1980 G. S. Radhika has secured 89.51 in the optional group consisting of Physics. Chemistry. Mathematics and Biology. The petitioner in W. P. 10562 of 1980 B. Srinivasa Mallya has secured 87.33% of marks in the optional group. The petitioner in W.P. 15103 of 1980 Vasudha Rao has secured 82.66% in the Optional Group. The petitioner in W. P. 15570 of 1980 has secured 79.66% in the Optional group. The petitioners applied to the selection committee constituted by the State Government, seeking selection for admission to the I Year M.B.B.S., course during the academic year 1980-81. They have not been selected. Hence they have presented these petitions.

(3.) The plea put forward by the petitioners in these writ petitions is that their right to equality guaranteed under Art. 14 of the Constitution has been violated. This plea is raised on the basis of the following facts and circumstances: The petitioners are merited candidates and they have secured high percentage of marks in the Pre-University Examination held in April 1980. They have not been selected because there were candidates who had secured more marks than the petitioners, who had passed the Pre-University Examination held in April 1979. The students who have passed the Pre-University course in each examination conducted by the Pre-University Board constitute a separate and distinct class. Therefore in comparing the merit of the candidates who have passed at different examinations amounts to violation of the right to equality guaranteed under Art. 14 of the Constitution in that by according similar treatment to persons dissimilarly situated. In any event, there were sufficient grounds to treat the students who passed the Pre-University examination in April 1979 and the students who passed in March 1980 as a separate and distinct class, because the Pre-University Board had given certain number of grace marks in the subject of Chemistry to all the students who had appeared for the April 1979 examination, whereas, in respect of 1980 examination the Board had given grace marks only to such of those students who could obtain a pass on the addition of such grace marks. It, is alleged that in view of the differ ent methods of award of grace marks by the Pre-University Board in respect of the April 1979 examination and March 1980 examination, large number of students who had passed the Pre-University examination held in April 1979 and who failed to secure seats in the medical colleges during the academic year 1979-80 have been selected during the academic year 1980-81 and consequently large number of highly merited candidates like the petitioners, who passed the Pre-University Examination held in April 1980 have been denied seats and consequently they have been subjected to flagrant discrimination in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.