GURPARTAP SINGH Vs. PUNJABI UNIVERSITY, PATIALA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The grievance of the petitioner raised in this petition filed under Article 226 of the Constitution is that he has been illegally refused admission in LL.B. 2nd year i.e. 3rd and 4th semesters despite the fact that he is fully eligible. Consequently, a prayer has been made for quashing the order dated 1.3.2002, Annexure P-5 passed by the respondent-University. During the pendency of the petition, the petitioner claims that he has become entitled to be considered for admission to 5th semester of LL.B. 3rd year also.

(2.) Brief facts of the case are that the petitioner took admission in LL.B. Ist semester in the Department of Law Punjabi University, Patiala in the session 2000-2001. He could not appear for the examination of first semester for some unavoidable circumstances. However, for the second semester, he appeared in June, 2001 and took all the five papers. The result was declared on 10.8.2001 and he was declared passed in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th paper but he got re-appear in the 1st paper. Feeling dissatisfied, the petitioner applied for re-evaluation of 1st paper of the second semester in which he was placed under re-appear. The result of reevaluation was declared on 25.10.2001 and the same was received by the petitioner on 1.11.2001. The petitioner was declared pass even in the first paper. On the basis of passing the second semester, the petitioner claimed that he was entitled to be admitted to the second year i.e. 3rd and 4th semesters. In this regard, he made representation to the respondents but the same was rejected on 1.3.2002 vide Annexure P-5 on the ground that the admission at that stage was not possible. The petitioner approached this Court and on 20.3.2002, a Division Bench of this court allowed the provisional admission to the petitioner in LL.B. 2nd year and it was made clear that the provisional admission would be subject to further orders of this court.

(3.) The respondents have filed the written statement in which the stand taken is that the candidates whose papers are re-evaluated, cannot be granted admission if more than 21 days have elapsed since the commencement of the teaching course. It is further pointed out that admission to LL.B. 2nd year can be allowed only to those candidates who have qualified at least 50% of the papers prescribed for LL.B. 1st year. Therefore, the petitioner was not eligible to be admitted in 2nd year course till the time he had passed 50% of the papers of LL.B. 1st year which he could pass only when his result of re-evaluation was declared on 25.10.2001. However, by that time the admissions were already over as the last date for admission to LL.B. 2nd year was 20.8.2001 and the classes had started on 27.8.2001.