MUSKAN SAMIR MODASIA Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) It is not in dispute that the petitioner is a domicile of Daman. It is further not in dispute that during 2014 to 2016, the petitioner pursued studies in Classes VIII to X in a school in Sarigram, Gujarat, which is at a distance of 17 kilometers from her residence in Daman. It is also not in dispute that the petitioner shifted to Ahmedabad, Gujarat to pursue her studies in Classes XI and XII. Much would depend on the second and third incidents referred to above for the purpose of a decision on this writ petition, wherein multiple relief have been claimed by the petitioner for obtaining a priority in admission to the M.B.B.S. course in any one of the 58 seats reserved for candidates of Daman & Diu in NAMO Medical Education and Research Institute, Silvassa, Dadra & Nagar Haveli (for short, "the said college" hereafter) for the academic year 2020-2021. The prayers in the writ petition read as follows:

(2.) Out of 150 available seats for admission in the M.B.B.S. course in the said college, inter alia, 22 seats are reserved for the All India quota, and 58 seats each for the candidates of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. The eligibility criteria that a candidate aspiring for admission to pursue M.B.B.S. course of study in the said college is set out at paragraph 3 of the notice published in the official gazette of the Union Territory Administration of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu, dated October 8, 2020 (for short, "the Policy" hereafter). Paragraph 4 of the Policy provides for four categories of priority in admission for local candidates of Dadra & Nagar Haveli and Daman & Diu. Since we are concerned with the "first priority" and the "second priority", its terms are set out hereinbelow.

(3.) The petitioner appeared for the National Eligibility- cum-Entrance Test, 2020 (for short, "NEET, 2020 hereafter) conducted by the National Testing Agency on September 13, 2020. Upon declaration of result on October 16, 2020, the petitioner found that she had obtained 325 out of 720 marks. It is claimed, on the basis of such marks, that the petitioner qualified for admission in the M.B.B.S. course for the Academic Year 2020-2021. It is, however, the admitted case of the petitioner that as per the aforementioned priority-wise segregation stipulated in the policy, she fell under second priority (paragraph 4.28). Aggrieved by the stipulation in paragraph 4(a) that those candidates, who had studied continuously from Classes VIII to XII in any of the recognized schools of the relevant Union Territory would be entitled to the "first priority", the petitioner has approached this Court with this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking the relief noted above.