SULAKHAN SINGH Vs. STATE OF PUNJAB

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioners both Majhabi Sikhs, therefore, members of the scheduled castes are presently serving the State of Punjab as Medical Officers. The State of Punjab issued a prospectus for the common entrance test 1998 for admission to the Post Graduate Medical/Dental courses in the Government Colleges in the State of Punjab. The petitioners being eligible applied under 60% seats reserved as in-service candidates. On the declaration of the result on 1.6.1998 petitioners were found to have obtained 380 and 492 marks out of 1200 respectively. As per the eligibility criteria published in the prospectus, the petitioners were required to get at least 50% marks in order to make them eligible for admission to the Post-Graduate Medical Courses. The State of Punjab, however, vide notification dated 19.6.1998 waived the condition of 50% qualifying marks with the result that even those who had obtained less than 50% marks including the petitioners became eligible for admission. It is the case of the petitioners that 28 seats had been reserved for scheduled castes candidates, out of which 14 were to be offered to Balmiki/Majhabi Sikh candidates as preferential candidates amongst the scheduled castes as per annexure P/5 and P/6 dated 19.9.1975 and 8.4.1980 respectively and as only 8 such candidates including the petitioners had appeared in the entrance test all such candidates were entitled to admission. The waiver of the 50% eligiblity condition vide notification dated 19.6.1998 was, however, challenged in this court in civil writ petition No. 8567 of 1998 and while this writ petition lay pending the State Government issued a fresh notification dated 22.7.1993 superseding the notification dated 19.6.1998 and reintroducing 40% as the minimum eligibility floor mark for admission to the Post Graduate Medical Courses. Both these notifications dated 19.6.1998 and 22.7.1998 were challenged in this court and vide judgment dated 24.7.1998 passed in civil writ petition No. 8567 of 1998 were quashed with the following observations :-

(2.) The notification dated 22.7.1998 superseding the notification dated 19.6.1998 was accordingly quashed and a direction issued to the State of Punjab to make admission on the basis of the prospectus originally issued. The petitioners' claim, therefore, in present writ petition based on the premise that the condition with regard to the 50% marks stood waived and no longer tenable and as evident, the petitioners who have not obtained 50% marks in the common entrance test are not eligible to seek admission to the Post Graduate Medical courses.

(3.) Mr. Hari Om Sharma, the learned counsel for the petitioners has nevertheless relied upon Lavekesh Kumar & others v. State of Punjab and others,1998 1 RSJ 566and Civil Writ Petition No. 149 of 1998 decided on 24.2.1998 Amardeep Singh v. State of Punjab and others to contend that if the number of vacancies were more than the number of posts, the holding of an entrance test by itself is bad. In this connection, it has once again been pointed out that only about 8 candidates from the Scheduled Castes category had appeared in the entrance test and as such the petitioners ought to have been granted admission irrespective of their merit in it.