RAMA SHUKLA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) With consent of parties, matter is taken up for final disposal.

(2.) Present writ petition has been filed seeking a direction to maintain the number of awards as fifteen in accordance with past practice and to constitute a new Screening and Recommending Committee to consider bio-data of Prof. Radha Vallabh Tripathi for award of President's Certificate of Honour in Sanskrit for the year 2013. Petitioner also prays that above exercise be completed prior to the start of procedure for inviting proposals for President's Certificate of Honour for the year 2014.

(3.) Learned counsel for petitioner states that in 2013 the number of awardees has been illegally reduced from the past practice of fifteen to thirteen and the Committee arbitrarily ignored the name of Prof. Radha Vallabh Tripathi despite being recommended by a previous Awardee, Dr. Rama Kant Shukla. In support of his contention, learned counsel for petitioner relies upon an extract from internet/website wherein it is stated that there are fifteen awards for Sanskrit, three each for Arabic and Persian and one for Pali/Prakrit under the Scheme.