ASOK KUMAR PANI Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THIS is a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution by an unsuccessful appellant for admission to one of the Medical Colleges in the State of Orissa for the academic year 1962-63.

(2.) ON the 8th June 1962 a notice was issued in the Orissa Gazette inviting applications from students having the necessary qualifications for admission to the medical Colleges in the State of Orissa, the minimum qualification being I. Sc. or pre-Professional Examination, with Physics, Chemistry and Biology as subjects. The candidates were also required to file their mark-sheets, showing the marks obtained by them in the said Examinations. It was further announced that the selection of candidates will be made on the basis of the marks obtained by them in the qualifying examination, i. e. I. Sc. or Pre-Professional Examination, or an Examination recognised as equivalent thereto by the Selection Board appointed by government.

(3.) THE petitioner was one of the candidates who applied for a seat and he enclosed along with his application the marks obtained by him in the Pre-Professional examination which showed that he obtained 201 marks out of a Total of 500 in that Examination. A Selection Board was duly constituted and it is admitted that the Selection Board tabulated ail the applications according to the marks obtained and got a list prepared, arranging the candidates in order of merit according to those marks. The petitioner was placed in serial No. 196 in the list and one Sri R. K. Biswal was given serial No. 241. The said Sri R. K. Biswal had passed I. Sc. Examination held in June 1959 and had obtained a total marks of 382 out of 1000. He had also joined the B. Sc. degree course in Khalikkote College in 1961 and had thus done one year in that Degree course, at the time of his applying for a seat in the Medical Colleges. After thus preparing a fresh list of candidates according to the marks obtained by them the Selection Board made a fresh selection of those candidates who had obtained at least 44 per cent of the total marks in the qualifying examination. After thus making the first selection the Board made a second selection of those candidates who had obtained at least 41. 2 per cent of the total marks at the said qualifying examination. But the Board felt that on the actual dates of reopening of colleges some of the selected candidates may not appear, in order to get themselves admitted, and this might give rise to a few more vacancies. Hence the board authorised the respective Principals of Colleges to make a 'spot' selection on the 13th August 1962 from out of the candidates seeking admission, and actually present, on that date. Neither the petitioner nor Shri R. K. Biswal was selected either in the first list or the 2nd list prepared by the Board. Subsequently, Dr. Radhanath Misra, Principal of Burla Medical College, assisted by one Dr. Sen, professor of Physiology in the said Medical College and a member of the Selection board, made three selections on the spot, on the 13th August 1962 in pursuance of the authority given to him by the Board and in that selection he preferred Shri r. K. Biswal to the petitioner. He has also sworn an affidavit to the effect that while judging the relative merits of the petitioner, on the one hand, and Sri Biswal on the other, he took into consideration the following facts :