SANDEEP SINGH Vs. PUNJAB UNIVERSITY CHANDIGARH

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE petitioner appeared in the Common Entrance Test 1996 for admission to the M. B. B. S. Course. The said test was conducted by the Punjab University on 15-5-1996. The candidates were required to appear in the said test for admission to seven different courses including the M. B. B. S. Course in the Government Medical College, Chandigarh. Forty-three seats were kept in the general category, and seven seats in the category for the Scheduled Caste candidates. Separate merit lists were prepared for both the categories, namely, general category and the reserved category. Fee for the general category candidate was Rs. 400/- and for the reserved category candidate Rs. 200/ -. The petitioner had appeare in the said test as a Scheduled Caste candidated for admission to the M. B. B. S. Course. After the merit list was prepared and declared, the petitioner got 8th position in the merit list of the reserved category candidates but, since there were only seven seats in that category, the petitioner could not get admission. The petitioner had secured 105. 25 marks out of 225 (aggregate marks) and was placed at Serial No. 509 in the merit list of the candidates. The petitioner noticed that respondent No. 3, Kumari Sukhbir Paul Kaur Sidhu, had appeared in the test as a general category candidate but managed to get admission as a reserved category candidate. All the candidates, whose names appeared in the merit list in either category, were required to make separate applications for admission to the Government Medical College. Respondent No. 3 in her application for the Common Entrance Test had described herself as a general category candidate in the relevant column but, when she noticed that her name did not figure in the merit list of that category amongst the first hundred candidates, she opted to seek admission in the reserved category and, for that purpose while making application for admission to the Government Medical College, Chandigarh, she described herself as a candidate and claimed the admission, in the reserved category.

(2.) THE petitioner has filed this petition under Arts. 226/227 of the Constitution for quashing the admission given to respondent No. 3 by the Government Medical College, Chandigarh. The case of the petitioner is that, after respondent No. 3 had appeared in the Common Entrance Test as general category candidate, she could not subsequently change her position and take the benefit as a reserved category candidate after she found herself to be not successful as a general category candidate. The petitioner has stated that he secured 8th position in the merit list of reserved category candidates but, since respondent No. 3 managed to get admission wrongly by describing herself as Scheduled Caste candidate, the petitioner could not get admission as there were seven seats only in the reserved category. If the name of respondent No. 3 is excluded from the reserved category list, the petitioner would come up to the 7th position in the merit list and would get admission to the M. B. B. S. Course. It is stated that there was no provision for making a change in the category after appearing in the test and competing in a specific category.

(3.) RESPONDENT No. 3 has come up with the plea that a candidate, after passing the Common Entrance Test, had to apply for admission to a specific course. There was no bar to claiming admission under the reserved category because she belonged to that category and there was no room for any doubt in this regard in view of the certificate produced in support. The certificate in regard to respondent No. 3 being a Scheduled Caste candidate was not in genuine or fake and, therefore, her bona fides as a reserved category candidate were not under challenge. She had secured position at Serial No. 307 in the merit list whereas the petitioner had got position at Serial No. 509. Since there was no bar to seeking admission in the reserved category, the admission given to respondent No. 3 is said to be beyond challenge. After the Common Entrance Test had been held and the merit list had been prepared, a candidate could very well seek admission under the category to which he or she belonged. Since respondent No. 3 belonged to the reserved category, she had a right to see admission in that category.