CHRISTIAN MEDICAL COLLEGE, LUDHIANA Vs. JOEL D. MASIH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This order shall dispose of LPA Nos. 1826 and 1846 of 2011, filed under Clause 10 of the Letters Patent Appeal, challenging the judgment dated 16.9.2011 rendered by the learned Single Judge declaring Clause 11(a) of the Prospectus (P-4), issued by the Christian Medical College, Ludhiana (Appellant College) as ultra vires of Article 14 of the Constitution. This clause requires a candidate to obtain sponsorship letter as a pre-condition if he desired to take admission in the MBBS and BDS courses in the Appellant College. The Appellant College has been directed to pass appropriate orders rectifying the rejection of candidature of the petitioner-respondent No. 1 to the MBBS course, within a week.

(2.) The Appellant College is a minority institution protected by Article 30(1) of the Constitution. Thus, it is entitled to set up educational institutions and manage its affairs without interference by the State. The appellant- College has freedom to prescribe the mode and manner of admission. For admission to various courses such as MBBS, BDS, B.Sc. Nursing and Bachelor of Physiotherapy, the appellant-College issued a Prospectus for UG Programs-2011 (P-4) wherein the seats of various courses have been divided broadly into two categories i.e. Open Category and Christian (Minority Category). In the prospectus under the main heading of "Admission Programme", there is a sub- heading 'Christian (Minority Category) Applicants & Service Agreement', which reads thus:

(3.) It is, thus, evident that for a candidate desirous to apply for the seats reserved for the Christian (Minority Category), the foremost requirement was to have a Bible Test and such candidates were further required to be sponsored by one of the sponsoring agencies of the Christian Medical College Ludhiana Society for eligibility in the sponsored category. It is further clear that all candidates irrespective of their course applying under the Christian (Minority Category) were also required to enter into a service agreement for different duration without which admission would not be granted. For the MBBS course the minimum period of service agreement has been fixed as two years. The next thing which is discernible is that the admission were to be granted "entirely on merit, based on the Admission Written Test". It seems that the provision for production of original certificates concerning sponsorship letters, Baptism certificate and letter from the Pastor regarding Church membership has been made in order to ascertain the genuiness of a candidate whether he is a bonafide Christian and belongs to the category of Christian Minority.