VIJAY PRAKASH MINOR Vs. CH CHARAN SINGH UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) It is hard to get an admission in a State Medical College but to lose it when it had virtually been granted would be a pity. The petitioner was selected in the Combined Pre Medical Test 2004 in the SC/ST Physically Handicapped Category. His general rank was 4113 self-rank 29 and rank 1 in SC category physically handicapped. All that he required to get an admission was to produce a medical certificate from a Special Medical Board certifying what in lay language means that he was physically handicapped but the degree of his disability was not such as would hinder his performance. On 16.7.2004 the day fixed he appeared for counseling. He also had with him a medical certificate of the Chief Medical Officer in proof of his eligibility in the category in which he was selected but he was sent away without admission, as the certificate which he possessed did not have the status of a certificate of the special medical board. In that fateful round of counseling candidates lower down in the merit list were admitted bagging away all the four seats that were reserved for the quota of the scheduled caste physically handicapped category to which the petitioner belongs.

(2.) The petitioner then filed the present writ petition for a mandamus commanding the respondents to admit him. On 20.8.2004 while the petition was pending he obtained a medical certificate from the Special Medical Board certifying his disability. By now there appeared a silver lining in the dark clouds, A second round of counseling had begun and the petitioner pinned his hopes to get an admission in this round. On 26.8.2004 he was successful in obtaining an interim order in this petition - a direction permitting him to appear in the second counseling on the basis of the certificate of the Special Medical Board with which he was now armed. The respondents as their case in the counter affidavit is considered him according to the rules printed in the brochure of the C.P.M.T. 2004 which provide in effect that if a candidate does not appear withthe relevant papers in the round of counseling he according to his merit is called can be considered in the next counseling but only against the seats that remain. All the four seats in the quota against which the petitioner was selected had as we have seen already been filled up in the first round of counseling. The petitioner had therefore to return empty handed once again.

(3.) In the counter affidavit reliance has been placed upon the rules for admission printed in the Information brochure and Sri Mahendra Pratap the respondent's counsel heavily relied upon them to justify the stand of the respondents. It is therefore necessary to refer briefly to these rules. Paragraph 5.4 (ka) of the brochure provides that the applicant shall appear personally in the counseling withthe Admit Card and relevant documents at the fixed time and place, Paragraph 5.4 (gha) provides that the candidates shall be called for counseling according to their place in the merit list and will be considered against the available seats according to merit. Paragraph 5.4 (chha) provides that in case it is not possible for the candidate to appear in person he can authorize a person in his place who may appear withthe relevant documents. Paragraph 5.4 (ja) provides that if the candidate does not appear on the fixed date and time in the counselling he would not be given allotment of a seat in the said counseling though he would be eligible to participate in the next counseling but against the remaining seats only. The petitioner's explanation for being unable to obtain and produce the required medical certificate in the first round of counseling is that he had fallen ill and was admitted in hospital between 2.7.2004 to 13.7.2004 and therefore could not get himself examined by the Special Medical Board. In proof of illness the petitioner has filed a medical certificate of the Community Medical Center, Sujanganj, Jaunpur.