(1.) Roshana's case ( AIR 1979 SC 765 ) was decided by the Supreme Court laying down certain principles for admission to the M. B. B. S. degree course in the Medical Colleges in the State of Kerala taking into account factors which were relevant in the concerned year of admission. The situation has considerably changed, one of the factors which resulted in such change being the introduction of an entrance examination. Roshana's case also did not deal with all possible problems or situations nor did it purport to solve all such problems. One of the questions which evidently was not contemplated and not dealt with in that case is before us now in this petition, but evidently the State of Kerala and the Principal of the Medical College seem to have proceeded as if the question is covered by the decision in Roshana's case
(2.) We are concerned here with the case of six petitioners who are all Muslims and who have passed out from the Calicut University. One of them, the second petitioner alone is a graduate. The other 5 have passed the pre degree examination from that University. All of them were candidates seeking admission to the First year M. B. B. S. Course in the year 1982-83. Ext. P1 is the prospectus issued by the Principal, Medical College, Trivandrum. That mentions that the distribution of the seats between the Universities of Kerala and Calicut is in the manner directed by the Supreme Court and also subject to communal rotation principle. That the total seats available in the State have to be divided between the students who passed out from Kerala and Calicut Universities is a common meeting point. The seats have also to be divided between those who have passed pre degree and those who are science graduates. 498 seats will be available for those who have passed the pre degree examinations of Kerala/Calicut Universities. 104 seats will be available for science graduates from the above mentioned two Universities. Selection is to be made on the basis of common ranking based on merit at the entrance test. The system of entrance test commenced last year pursuant to a direction issued from this court. Out of the total 498 seats available for pre degree candidates the quota for the Kerala University candidates is 332 while the quota for Calicut University candidates is 166. Evidently this is the formula adopted in the Roshana's case. There is no objection by any of the parties to its adoption in this case. The seats so reserved for the candidates who bad passed out from the two Universities are again to be distributed between those coming within the general merit quota and those coming within the reservation quota. 332 seats of the Kerala University are divided as 215 and 117 between general merit and reservation while 166 seats in the Calicut University pre degree quota are divided between the general merit and reservation as 108:58. 8 per cent is the reservation for Muslims. Therefore, in the pre degree quota the total Muslim reservation is 40 seats. Similar reservation in the degree quota for Muslims is 10. Therefore, apart from representation in the general merit seats, Muslim candidates get in all 10 in the degree quota and 40 in the pre degree quota. This again is common ground. The total number and division as between the degree and pre degree is not attacked. The controversy in this case centres round the division of the 40 seats for pre degree candidates and the division of 10 seats for degree candidates. We do not separately consider the case of the degree candidates, for whatever we say about the 40 pre degree seats will apply with equal force to the 10 degree seats. We will proceed to consider how far the objection to the manner of reservation for the Muslim candidates is to be sustained in this case.
(3.) The division of the total seats between those passing out from the Calicut University and those passing out from Kerala University is made in the ratio of 1:2. One third of the seats are evidently reserved for those passing out from Calicut University. Applying the same logic what was done in regard to Muslim reservation seat was that one third of the 40 Muslim seats in the pre degree quota was reserved for Muslim candidates passing from Calicut University while 2/3 was reserved for the pre degree Muslim candidates passing out from the Kerala University. The former would get 13 while the latter would get 27. The fairness of this distribution and the reason behind such distribution is the main subject of controversy here. While one can understand division of seats between the Calicut and Kerala Universities in the proportion of 1:2 based on the student strength of these Universities the division of Muslim reservation seats in the same proportion would, according to the petitioners, be unreasonable and lead to perverse results. Rather than promote the object of reservation, it would injure the reservation principle itself. This is illustrated by certain statistics.