JANAKI GANAPATHI Vs. GOVERNMENT OF ANDHRA PRADESH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India for the issue of a Writ of Mandamus or other appropriate direction or order directing the respondents to admit the petitioner into the integrated M.B.B.S. Course for the academic year 196566 in the Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam.

(2.) The facts relevant for the determination of the questions in controversy may be stated thus:--The petitioner Kumari Janaki Ganapathi passed the Over Seas School Certificate Examination of the University of Cambridge, popularly called the Senior Cambridge Examination, held in 1963, in the first division. Her optional subjects were Physics, Chemistry and Biology in which she was awarded 47%, 75% and 66% of the marks respectively. She also passed the first year of the three- year B.Sc. Degree Course of the Andhra University in July, 1964 securing high marks. She applied for a seat in the integrated M.B.B.S. course in the Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam for the academic year 196566, but her name was not included in the list of selected candidates. When she made representation to the Government as to why she was not selected, though she satisfied the requirements of G.O. Ms. 1340 Health dtd. 25/6/1965 governing the admission of students to the Government: Medical Colleges in the State, she had not received any reply. She however came to understand that she was not selected since she obtained credits in Senior Cambridge Examination only in two of the optional subjects viz., Chemistry and Biology and not in the remaining optional subjects viz., Physical as required by Rule 7-B(c)(i) of the Rules.

(3.) According to the Rules, Medical Colleges at Visakhaptnam, Guntur and Kurnool are allotted 150 seats while the College at Thirupathi was allotted 100 seats and Rule 5 provides that subject to the procedure in Rule 11, 30% of the number of seats will be available after deducting number of seats reserved as per Rule 2(1)(a) from the overall total shall be reserved for women candidates. Under Rule 7-B(i) prescribing the educational qualifications, a candidate for admission should possess minimum educational qualification of a pass in the Pre-University Science Course Examination with Physical Sciences and Biological Sciences as subjects or (b) a pass in the Higher Secondary Certificate Examination or (c) a pass in an Examination recognised as equivalent thereto. The rules mention Senior Cambridge Examination as an equivalent to the minimum educational qualification from the academic year 195859. Under the heading 'marks' noted as Rule 7-C(i), it is stated that for purposes of selection the aggregate of marks obtained by the candidate in the optional science Subjects only (equated to a maximum of 300) in the Pre-University or the Higher Secondary Examination shall be taken into account and when there is a tie, the aggregate marks obtained by the candidate in the optional subjects and English only (equated to a maximum of 400 i.e., 300 in the optional subjects and 100 in English,) in the pre-University or Higher secondary Examination shall fee taken into account. The note appended to that rule states that the admissions should be made from the categories of Multi-purpose. Senior Cambridge and pre-University Course candidates on merit basis subject to the condition that ? of the total seats (in all the categories put together) at least should be given to Multi-purpose and Senior Cambridge candidates and 50% of the total seats should be given to the P.U.C. candidates. If in case the Multipurpose and Senior Cambridge candidates fail to get at least ? of the seats (in all categories put together i.e., General, Scheduled Castes and Tribes and Women etc), the number should be made up by admitting corresponding number of multipurpose and Senior Cambridge candidates who are otherwise qualified. The next sub rule is to the effect that only candidates who obtained not less than 50% of the marks in the case of men and 45% in the case of women in the optional subjects in he qualifying examination in respect of M.B.B.S. Course, shall be considered, as far as candidates belonging to the communities other than Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes are concerned.