BONIFACE HEMBROM Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) THE dispute in these two writ petitions on behalf of 24 petitioners relates to admission to the MBBS Course in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) category. The dispute being common the cases have been heard together and are disposed of by this common order. The representative facts may be noticed from the record of CWJC No. 11754 of 2002.

(2.) THE petitioners seek, inter alia, quashing of notice dated 2.10.2002 by which the counselling held between 21.8.2002 and 26.8.2002 for the candidates of PCB (Physics, Chemistry, Biology) Group for admission to the MBBS course on the basis of the Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination, 2002 and the admit orders pursuant to the said counselling have been cancelled. They also seek direction to admit them against seats alloted to them as per the admit orders vide Annexure -5 series to the writ petition. The petitioners further seek quashing of the resolution of the State Government contained in memo no. 466 dated 30.9.2002 of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department, reducing the percentage of reservation for the ST category from 10 percent to 1 percent in the matter of admission in different types of educational institutions. However, this larger question was not gone into by the counsel for the parties at the time of hearing.

(3.) THE case of the petitioners is that pursuant to Advt. No. BCECEB (BCECE) 2002/01 inviting applications for the Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination 2002, they applied in the ST category to which they belong and appeared at the admission test which was held in two stages on 24.4.2002 and 11.7.2002 respectively. Their position in the merit list was 4,11,15,43 and 61 respectively. Being successful at the written test they were called for counselling and interview at which they appeared on 24.8.2002 and 25.8.2002 along with necessary papers and they were provisionally allotted seats in the ST category in the Patna Medical College, Patna or Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Bhagalpur or Sri Krishna Medical College, Muzaffarpur. However, when they turned up at the respective colleges for admission they were not allowed to take admission on the ground that the admission had been stayed on the instruction of the State Government. On 2.10.2002, however, notice was published in the newspapers informing the candidates at large that the counselling held between 21.8.2002 and 26.8.2002 as well as the admit orders issued pursuant thereto had been cancelled and new dates of counselling would be intimated. The notice stated that this was being done in view of the resolution of the Personnel and Administrative Reforms Department of the State Government dated 30.9.2002 and amendment in the Regulation on Graduate Medical Education 1997. The petitioners learnt on enquiry that resolution dated 30.9.2002 had been issued reducing quota in the ST category from ten percent to one percent with immediate effect and the resolution had been made applicable also to such cases in which examination had been held or applications received but admission were not taken. The case of the petitioners is that the prospectus with respect to the above competitive examination provided the percentage/ratio of reservation for different candidates. The prospectus, further, stipulated that the reservation provisions as existing prior to the commencement of the admission process would apply unless the State Government issues general order in this regard. As the admission process had commenced before issuance of the Government Order dated 30.9.2002, the respondents are obliged to admit students as per the erstwhile reservation provisions.