SUBHASISH SINGH Vs. CONVENOR P G MEDICAL

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioners in all these writ petitions are the Medical Graduates from either of the three Government Medical Colleges affiliated to three respective Universities of the State of Orissa. They have been registered as Medical Practitioners after completion of their mandatory internship/housemanship. It is their claim that having a brilliant academic career, they were interested in prosecuting Post Graduate Medical Course in faculties of their choice during the academic session 2003 by competing in the entrance test for admission to such courses like in earlier years. But to their disappointment, by the illegal and arbitrary decision of the State Government, they have become ineligible, the entire seats in the Post Graudate medical course having been reserved for in service candidates only.

(2.) CHALLENGE is made to the 'eligibility criteria of applicants' seeking admission to the Post Graduate Medical Course, 2003 in three medical colleges of Orissa in advertisement dated 13.7.2003, fixing minimum three years of service experience either as contractual service under the State Government of Orissa or 3 years of Government service experience within, the State of Orissa by 31st March, 2003 as illegal and unconstitutional.

(3.) SRI Jagannath Patnaik, learned Senior Advocate for the writ petitioners submitted that the eligibility criteria fixed by the State Government makes out a 100 per cent reservation for in service candidates, which is per se discriminatory and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. It was always the practice, that there were two categories of candidates like direct and in service, who could fill up the seats but there was no reason to discontinue the age old practice, by which the direct candidates are totally deprived of equal opportunity to show their merits. It is his submission that the Courts, in no uncertain terms, have recognized merit as the basis and dominant consideration for selecting persons for Post Graduate studies and denial of opportunity to the direct candidates to sit at the entrance examination, amounts to shut out meritorious students to avail of the medical education of the Post Graduate level. The learned counsel has relied on certain decisiops of this Court as well as of the Apex Court in support of his contentions, which shall be considered later at the appropriate stage.