VIKAS ARORA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This judgment will dispose of these writ petitions which arise from the denial of admissions to the petitioners to Batch No. 101 of National Defence Academy/Naval Academy pursuant to an advertisement issued on 18th October, 1997 which called for filling up of 365 vacancies. The written examination was held by the Union Public Service Commission on 19th April, 1998 and out of 1.10 lac candidates, 4,700 candidates were called for interviews in the months of September/October, 1998. Pursuant to the said interviews 398 candidates were declared successful and were sent for medical examination. The UPSC had declared the number of vacancies as 337 when it published the list of candidates in the Employment News dated 28th December, 1998-1st January, 1999. 60 candidates were not found medically fit and the only successful eligible candidates were thus numbered as 338. It is not in dispute that 141 candidates of Batch 100 were accommodated after the admission was concluded in Batch 100. This was done pursuant to an order by the Defence Minister and in requisite cases even the age relaxation was granted.

(2.) Originally the writ petition raised two issues i.e. (a) the relative merit ranking of various candidates and (b) the reduction of seats for the present Batch 101, However after the exchange of affidavits, the controversy now is confined to whether it was open to the respondents to reduce the number of seats in a given year/batch so as to deprive the candidates who were selected the benefit of admission. It may not be out of place to mention that the Kerala High Court in CMP No. 10684/1999 in OP No. 6289/1999, T.M. Praveen Kumar v. Union Public Service Commission, which raises similar issues has passed an interim order dated 19th March, 1999 which directs the admissions of the petitioner therein as a candidate in the 101st Batch. The respondents even as late as 20th May, 1999, when judgment was reserved, were not able to show whether the said order of the Kerala High Court was stayed or set aside by a superior Court. This Court was not inclined to pass any interim order but the matter was however set down for expeditious hearing. The respondents have taken a stand in the arguments that the 141 candidates left over from 100th Batch were accommodated on ad hoc basis and they did not displace the candidates of Batch 101, some of whom are petitioners before this Court. For this purpose it is necessary to extract the stand of the respondents in the counter affidavit in Writ Petition No. 271 of 1999 in this Court which reads as under :

(3.) In this connection the petitioners have relied upon a letter dated 21st September, 1998 by Additional Director General of Recruiting Adjuntant General's Branch to a candidate of Batch 100 for consideration for NDA 101 Course commencing January, 1999, annexed to the rejoinder affidavit. The relevant extract from the said letter is as under: