SATISH MENON Vs. STATE OF M P

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN this writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution, we are called upon to decide the constitutional validity of the Madhya Pradesh medical and Dental Post Graduate Course Entrance Examination Rules, 2009 (for short 'the Rules 2009') which provide that the one seat of Orthodontics in postgraduate dental course allocated to the unreserved category will be filled up by female candidate in the year 2009,

(2.) THE petitioner after completing his Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS)course and internship, appeared in the Postgraduate Entrance Test on 12. 4. 2009 conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Examination Board and secured 162 marks out of 200 marks arid was placed in the merit list as number one. He was called for counselling and scrutiny of documents on 28. 4. 2009 and he expected that he will be allotted the seat of Orthodontics of MDS course but was informed that the seat of Orthodontics of MDS course had been allotted to Dr. Sapna Jain (respondent No. 3) who stood 4th in the merit list of unreserved category candidates because under the Rules 2009, this single seat of Orthodontics in the Government dental Colleges in the Government of Madhya Pradesh had been reserved for a woman in the year 2009. Aggrieved, the petitioner has filed this writ petition praying for declaring the Rules 2009 as ultra vires Articles 14 and 19 (1) (g) of the Constitution.

(3.) ON 6. 5. 2009, the Court after hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner, issued notices to the State of Madhya Pradesh and Director of Medical Education (respondents No. 1 and 2) and also to the respondent No. 3. In response to the notice, a return has been filed on behalf of the respondents No. 1 and 2 stating inter alia that Rule 8 (1) of the Rules, 2009, provides for reservation for woman candidates to the extent of 30% according to merit cum option and such resqvation for women to the extent of 30% is not vertical reservation but to be applied horizontal compartment-wise for the purpose of Maintaining 50% ceiling of reservation for SC/st/obc categories and for the remaining 50% seats meant for unreserved candidates, reservation has been provided for female candidates as a special provision under Article 15 (3) of the Constitution. The return of respondents No. l and 2 further states that the single seat of Orthodontics has been allotted to the unreserved category and 30% reservation in this seat in favour of the female candidates has been worked out by equitable distribution of the seat under Rule 17 (6) of the Rules 2009 by providing that the seat will be filled up for two years by open candidates and for one year by a female candidate and accordingly in the years 2007 and 2008, the seat had been allotted to open candidates and in the year 2009 the seat has been allotted to a female candidate and this was done in accordance with the constitutional obligation of the State under Article 15 (3) of the Constitution.