SUDHIR KUMAR Vs. BANGALORE UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) These petitions are disposed of by a common order since a common point arises for consideration in all these petitions.

(2.) The petitioners are students who had taken the 1 Year B.E. Degree Examination conducted by the Bangalore University-1st respondent. They are the students of M.V.J. College of Engineering, near Whits Field, Bangalore. They appear to have sought for admission to the 1 Year B. E. Degree Course in the aforesaid College, though they had not obtained the minimum qualifying marks of 50% on the ground that they belonged to Backward Tribes and Backward Classes and these Backward Tribes/Classes are entitled to take the benefit of the Government Order relaxing the minimum percentage of marks required for B.E. Course from 50% to 35%. In support of the plea that they belonged to Backward Tribes/Backward Classes, the petitioners produced certain certificates obtained by them from the authorities in their home State. All these petitioners hail from Bihar State. The 2nd respondent College admitted them and permitted them to take the I Year B. E. Degree Examination for the academic year 1986-87. It should be noticed at this stage that the very same petitioners had approached this Court in W.P. Nos. 18595, 18757 and 18954 of 1987 challenging the nonapproval of their admissions to the I Year B. E. Degree Course for the academic year 1986-87 and this Court allowed the writ petitions and directed respondent 1 to give an opportunity to the petitioners and take a decision in accordance with law. In terms of this direction made by this Court, 1st respondent-University by its order which is produced an Annexure-A in the writ petition declined to grant approval for the admission of the petitioners to the I Year B. E. Degree Course on the ground that they were not entitled to take the benefit of the Government Order which extended the concession granted to the SC/ST/ BT students who belong to the Backward Tribes/Classes. The 1st respondent at page 6 of the order observed as follows : -

(3.) Mr. V.A. Mohanarangam, learned Counsel for the petitioners has relied on the guidelines (Annexure-C) produced with the additional affidavit the relevant portion of which reads as under : a) Admission to the B.E. Degree Course is open to the students who have passed the two year P.U.C. Examination from the Board of Pre-University Education, Karnataka State or any other examination considered as equivalent thereto by the Bangalore University with Physics. Chemistry and Mathematics as combination and with 50% of the marks in the aggregate of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics. In the case of SC/ST/BT candidates, the minimum percentage of marks shall be 35% in the aggregate of Physics, Chemistry and Mathematics." Relying on this guideline given by the 1st respondent for admission to the B.E. Degree Course, he contended that the 1st respondent was in error in taking the view that the benefit of this guideline is not applicable to the students belonging to the Backward Tribes or Backward Classes from other States. He submitted that the first part of this guideline relating to admission to the B.E. Course is that it is open to all the students who had passed the two years P.U.C. Examination either in the PUC Course in this State or any other examination equivalent thereto from other States. Though the guideline gives some credence to the contention put forth by the learned Counsel for the petitioners, the guideline is only a guideline and cannot run against the relevant Government Notification made in this regard. The matter is also no more res integra in the light of the decision of this Court on a similar point rendered in W.P. Nos. 7365 to 7383 of 1986 disposed of on 1-12-1986 (reported in (1987) 13 Reports 289). In para 5 of the judgment of this Court what this Court observed is :