RAMAN GANDHI Vs. THE PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, LUDHIANA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners applied for admission to B.V.Sc. and A.H., Five-Year Degree Course for the academic Sessions 1997-98 in response to an advertisement issued by the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. They appeared in the written test held by the University and were put at Srl. Nos. 58, 59 and 61 respectively in the merit list. (A copy of the merit list has been appended as Annexure P-1 to the petition). The petitioners and the other successful candidates were asked to appear for counselling and interview at the University Campus on 9th July, 1997, but as some of the candidates who were higher in merit did not report on the date, 42 seats out of the total number of 68 seats upto merit No. 52 were filled up and the selected candidates were required to register themselves and to deposit their fees by 22nd July, 1997. It is the case of the petitioners that two of the general category candidates (i.e. the category of the petitioners) Amrit Pal Kaur and Harshdeep did not turn up and, as such, their seats also became available. It is further the case of the petitioners that even amongst those candidates who did appear for counselling on 9th July, 1997, and had got admission, some of them such as Amrit Pal Singh, Sartaj Singh, Dheeraj Makkar and Manvi Narang left the course after joining the same, with the result that at the time of filing of the writ petition, 12 seats still remained to be filled. The respondents accordingly adjusted the students at serial Nos. 53 to 56 of the merit list leaving 8 seats still vacant. The petitioners accordingly addressed a letter to the vice-Chancellor on 15th September, 1997 (Annexure P-2 to the petition) praying that as the last date for the admission had been extended up to 1st September, 1997, vide Annexure R-3 and the vacancies had occurred long before that date, they too ought to have been granted admission. This request was not acceded to. The present petition has, accordingly, been filed.

(2.) A reply has been put on record on behalf of the respondents and the stand taken is that Amritpal Kaur and Harshdeep had been allowed migration from the Assam Agricultural University as permitted under the rules of the respondent- University and they had been admitted to the 2nd year of the programme. While dealing with the case of the other four students mentioned above, it has been pleaded that the first three had attended classes for several days after their admission and, as such, it could not be said with certitude that their seats had fallen vacant as provided in clause 2, 4 of the University Statute, whereas Dheeraj Makkar, the 4th student, did not attend any class and the resultant vacant seat had been filled up by the candidate at Srl. No. 56, Prabhdeep Singh. The stand, therefore, is that there were no vacant seats as on the last date of admissions.

(3.) A replication has also been filed by the petitioners and it has been pointed out that Annexure P-4 which was the list of students registered for the first semester for the year 1997-98 bore the names of Amritpal Kaur and Harshdeep and that a look at Annexure P-5 indicated that Prabhdeep Singh aforesaid had been adjusted against the seat that had fallen vacant from I.C.A.R. quota and not from the general category. A rejoinder to the replication has also been filed by the University wherein the facts stated in the written statement have been reiterated and it has been pleaded that the documents Annexure P-4 and P-5 insofar as they dealt with the case of the students mentioned above were, in fact, inaccurately complied due to rush of work and inadvertence.