PARAMJIT SINGH Vs. GURU NANAK DEV UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner applied for admission to the course of Master of Business Administration in the Department of Business and Commerce, Guru Nanak Dev University under the reserved category of 'Rural Area Candidates'. There were two seats reserved for the rural area candidates. A candidate claiming seat under this category will have to produce the certificate of having passed Matriculation or Middle examination or any equivalent examination from a school situated in the rural. The petitioner secured 50% marks in his Graduation, 58 marks in M.A. Part-I examination and had also appeared in the M.A. Part-II the result of which was not declared at the time of filing the present writ petition. The petitioner passed his Middle Examination from Government High School, Bath, District Amritsar, a rural area, in March, 1976. A Rural Area candidate as per para No. 2 at page 4-5 of the prospectus falls in the reserved category for which two seats are reserved. The petitioner appeared in the written test and qualified the same. He was denied admission by the respondent-University on the ground that he did not fall under the category of Rural Area Candidate' for the purpose of claiming reserve seat for this category as he did not pass his Middle examination from any 'Board' but had passed the same from the school itself and, therefore, could not be considered against the seat reserved for Rural Area candidate.

(2.) Shri J.S. Bhatti, learned counsel for the petitioner, he contended that the petitioner's case has been rejected in an arbitrary manner. He further contended that the respondent No. 3, who was lower in merit and had passed his Middle examination from a school situated in the rural area has been given admission. The University authorities have violated the terms of the admission.

(3.) The stand of the University is that the petitioner passed his Middle examination from a School whereas the rural area candidate can claim admission on the basis of reservation only if he has passed Matriculation/Middle examination or equivalent examination from a school situated in the rural area. In the written statement it is admitted that one Gurpal Singh had also applied for admission under the reserved category of rural area candidate and he was also not considered in this reserved category on the ground on which the petitioner was not considered. Shri Gurpal Singh otherwise was higher in merit than the petitioner and if the petition is to succeed, the University will have to offer the seat to him and not to the petitioner as there are limited seats in the reserved category.