NANDITA KRISHNA Vs. STATE OF KERALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner, on completion of her plus two course, appeared for the Common Entrance Examination, 2009, aspiring for a seat in one of the Engineering Colleges in the State. She is also a sports person, having represented the Kerala State in Shuttle Badminton and as a member of the team which won the national event in 2008. She was thus entitled for appropriate weightage in marks, as applicable to sports quota, for the purposes of admission to the various Engineering Colleges in the State. Notwithstanding her credentials, however, the petitioner was not allotted a College of her choice in the centralised allotment process. She was first allotted to the Government Engineering College at Palakkad and, thereafter, when she opted for the higher option to the Government Engineering College, Trivandrum, she was not offered the said allotment. This led her to approach this Court through a writ petition which was dismissed by the Single Judge. The appeal that was filed against the said judgment, however, was allowed by Ext.P1 judgment and the respondents were directed to admit her to the Government Engineering College, Trivandrum for the B.Tech. Course in Civil Engineering.

(2.) THE petitioner would submit that notwithstanding Ext.P1 judgment of this Court, the respondents denied her admission to the Government Engineering College, Trivandrum. There was also the problem of the Government Engineering College, Palakkad not releasing the originals of the certificates that had been handed over by the petitioner to the said College at the time of joining that College, pursuant to the initial allotment. Under these circumstances, the petitioner was constrained to prefer a Contempt of Court case against the Secretary to the Government, the Commissioner of Entrance Examination and the Principal of the Government Engineering College, Trivandrum, charging them with disregard of the directions contained in Ext.P1 judgment. During the pendency of the contempt proceedings, the respondents in W.A.No.2803 of 2009, that was decided by Ext.P1 judgment, preferred SLP's before the Supreme Court. In the said SLP, there was initially an order of status quo that was granted by the Supreme Court. The said order of status quo was not however extended when the matter came to be posted before the Supreme Court on 22.03.2010. It is submitted that thereafter, the SLP's were dismissed and thereby Ext.P1 judgment attained finality. In the meanwhile, however, the contempt of Court cases had been closed citing the pendency of the SLP's.

(3.) THE facts in the writ petition disclose that the petitioner had, in the meanwhile, exasperated by the conduct of the respondents, joined the Government College for Women, Trivandrum to pursue a B.A Course in English. Not surprisingly, at the time of getting admission to the said course, the petitioner was confronted with the objection raised by the Principal of the Government Engineering College, Palakkad who had refused to return the originals of the documents submitted by the petitioner, on the ground that the return of the document was sought only after the date of closure of admission for the Engineering Course in the year 2009. The said Principal also demanded an amount of Rs.75,000/ -, as liquidity damages in connection with the petitioner's admission to the said College pursuant to the allotment process of the Common Entrance Examination, 2009. This led the petitioner to approach this Court through the present writ petition in the year 2010, seeking, inter alia, a writ of mandamus to direct the 3rd respondent to admit the petitioner in the Government College for Women, Trivandrum by accepting the transfer certificate and an attested copy of the 10th standard mark list as also by granting time for production of the Migration Certificate. By an interim order dated 24.06.2010, this court permitted the petitioner to join the Government College for Women at Trivandrum based on the attested copy of the 10th standard mark list and the transfer certificate produced by her and granting time for the production of the Migration Certificate. It is submitted by counsel for the petitioner that the Government Engineering College, Palakkad has since returned the originals of her certificates. Thus, the only subsisting grievance of the petitioner today is in respect of Ext.P8 communication of the Principal of the Government Engineering College, Palakkad demanding an amount of Rs.75,000/ - as liquidity damages from her. The said demand continues to dangle over her like a democles sword.