D NARMADHA Vs. STATE OF TAMILNADU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) In all these Writ Petitions, the challenge is to Clause 23 of the prospectus issued by the second respondent herein in respect of admission to the Post- Graduate Degree /Diploma/ MDS/5-year M.Ch.(Neuro-Surgery) Courses for the Academic Year 2004-2005, to declare the said Clause as arbitrary and unconstitutional and consequently direct the respondents to permit the petitioners to apply for any Post-Graduate Degree/Diploma/MDS/5-year M.Ch. (Neuro Surgery) Courses by fixing the completion of two year service as eligibility criteria for applying for the academic year 2004-2005.

(2.) The relevant Clause 23 in the prospectus issued for the year 2004-2005 reads as under:-

(3.) The petitioners are all the candidates who were admittedly in the services of either Tamil Nadu Medical Services or other Organizations mentioned in the prospectus. All the petitioners are stated to have entered service in the year 2001. It is relevant to state that till the year 2003-2004, the eligibility criteria for making the applications to PG Courses was stated to be `completion of two years of continuity of service' as on the date fixed in the respective prospectus. It is also relevant to state that some of the petitioners who were appointed in the month of February 2001, joined the service in that month as from the date when the appointment was made or the last date of that month viz., 28th day of February, 2001. Among others, some of the petitioners are stated to have been appointed in the month of November 2001. Therefore, the common grievance of these petitioners, while challenging 'Clause 23' of the prospectus of the year 2004-2005 is that by virtue of the stipulation, viz., that in order to be eligible for making the applications to any of the PG Courses, Service Candidate should have put in a minimum of three years of service as against two years which was prescribed till the last academic year, viz., 2003-2004, they were prevented from even applying for any of the PG courses and thereby they have been put to serious prejudice.