ARCHANA DALAL Vs. STATE OF MAHARASHTRA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard. Rule. Respondents waive service. By consent, the rule is made returnable forthwith and taken up for hearing.

(2.) The first Petitioner belongs to Halba community while Petitioner No. 2 belongs to Koshti Community which, according to them, were recognised as Schedule Tribes and Special Backward Class, respectively. Both the Petitioners submitted their application forms for the respective seats for MMS course reserved for S.T. And S.P.B.C. candidates. The Petitioners then appeared for Common Entrance Test (CET) conducted by Respondent No. 2 at the State Level in the month of February, 2008. Petitioner No. 1 had already completed her Bachelor's degree of BCA from Makhanlal Chaturvedi National University of Journalism and Communication, Bhopal, while Petitioner No. 2 had completed her course of BMS from Mumbai University. As per the instructions in the brochure and the practice adopted, the Petitioners submitted their respective applications forms and attended the Application Form Receipt Center (ARC) for verification of the documents and after verification of their respective documents. The ARC issued receipt cumacknowledgment for admission to the Petitioners. In the CET examination, both the Petitioners succeeded by securing 75.08% and 97.70% marks respectively. Keeping in view the merits of the Petitioners in the CET examination and the fact that their certificates have been duly verified, both the petitioners got the admission in the Maharashtra Education Trust Institute at Bandra, for the First Year of MMS Course as per the Central Admission Process ( CAP) round held by Respondent No. 2 for the Academic year 20082009. They successfully completed their first semester and at the time of filing of the Writ Petition, they were appearing for Second semester examination of First Year MMS Course.

(3.) On 17th January, 2009, Respondent No. 2 issued a letter to Respondent Nos. 3, 4 and the Principal of MET Institute of Management, Bandra, stating that the caste mentioned in the Caste Certificate of the Petitioners is not from the State of Maharashtra and therefore they are not eligible for the admission in reserved category. The said letter dated 17th January, 2009 was brought to the notice of the Petitioners by the Principal of MET Institute of Management at Bandra. Thereafter, the Director General of MET Institute of Management by its letter dated 23rd January, 2009 directed Respondent No. 3 to grant hearing to both the Petitioners. Accordingly, the hearing was held on 20th March, 2009 before Respondent No. 3. The Petitioners clarified their positions as well as requested him that there are two seats vacant in the open category in the MET Institute of Management and their seats may be converted from reserved category to open category and prayed that they may be allowed to continue their education. However, the said request was rejected by Respondent No. 3 by passing an order to the effect that the Petitioners are not entitled for admission. Copy of the minutes of the meeting/hearing dated 20th March, 2009 is annexed at ExhibitI to the Petition. Respondent No. 3 further observed that the Petitioners were from Madhya Pradesh and they are not residing in Maharashtra, and therefore request of the Petitioners to convert their admissions in open category from the reserved category was declined on the ground that their merit did not entitle them allocation of seat in general category as they had not secured meritorious marks more than or equal to the candidates who were admitted in open category.