SAPNA MEGHSHYAM REDKAR Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Rule. Heard forthwith. The petitioner obtained a caste certificate as belonging to "Bhandari" caste, which is notified as an Other Backward Class in the State of Maharashtra. The petitioner, based on the said caste certificate, was granted admission to the MBBS Degree Course during academic year 2002-03. The petitioner, by the present petition, seeks to challenge the Office Order dated 7/11/2007 passed by the Dean, Grant Medical College, Mumbai, cancelling her admission to the MBBS Degree Course. According to the petitioner, she has completed five years of MBBS Degree Course in December, 2006 and has started internship from 19/6/2007. Petitioner had completed four and half months of internship and has to complete seven and half months of remaining period of internship.

(2.) The petitioner had secured 151, out of 198 marks and was ranked 551 in OBC category in the State and in the region she was ranked 303. After getting her MH-CET results on 18/6/2002 she approached office of the respondent no.2 to make inquiry for the purpose of securing admission to MBBS Degree Course. One unknown person claiming to be the staff of respondent no.2 asked for documents and after going through the documents informed her that if she wants to get admission for MBBS Degree Course she has to submit "creamy layer certificate" and unless she produce the said certificate she would not get admission to MBBS Degree Course. The said unknown person also told her that if she does not have creamy layer certificate then he would make arrangement of the same provided she pays amount of Rs.50,000/- to him. Accordingly, she agreed to pay Rs.50,000/- for getting creamy layer certificate. When the petitioner went for admission, the said unknown person met her and asked her to write an application stating that she belongs to scheduled caste category and that she has wrongly mentioned her caste in MA-CET form. The said application along with documents was submitted to the authority by the said unknown person and she paid him Rs.50,000/-. For the first time she came to know after the Officer Order dated 7/11/2007 that she has been admitted based on the bogus certificate as scheduled caste.

(3.) According to the petitioner, having completed her MBBS Degree Course and has only to complete six more months of internship, if her admission is cancelled, then huge amount of public money which is spent in imparting her education will go waste. Similarly her educational career will be at a stake. The petitioner submits that she has acquired complete skill in medical field by her hard work and spending huge amount from her parents pocket. In matters of admission to Medical Colleges where a candidate has completed admission and subsequently the caste certificate is invalidated, the Supreme Court and this court have interfered in as much as the degree obtained has not been cancelled and persons similarly situated as the petitioner, have been debarred from taking benefit against reserved seats. Petitioner, therefore, states and prays that she should be given similar reliefs.