RANJIT KUMAR YADAV Vs. STATE OF BIHAR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This PIL focuses attention of this Court on the aspect of admission to Medical Colleges at the Undergraduate level and the effect of reservation policy thereof. It equally applies to admission to other educational institutions as well. Controversy had arisen as to how the reservation policy, as reflected in the Bihar Reservation Act, has to be applied while selecting candidates for admission to educational institutions. Two Division Bench judgments took two different views. The matter was then referred to a Full Bench of this Court which decided the issue in the case of Controller of Examination, Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Examination, 1999 Versus- Nidhi Sinha & Another, 2016 3 PLJR 273. This Court, through the Full Bench, laid down that the principles with regard to admission to educational courses is different from the principles when it comes to recruiting employees in State service. The grievance of the petitioner is that notwithstanding the aforesaid judgment, which was delivered on 24.06.2016, when the MBBS Entrance results for the Bihar State was being worked out this year, the judgment was deliberately ignored. In the counter affidavit filed, this position is not contested. In other words, it is accepted that the Full Bench judgment has not been strictly adhered to. The counter affidavit states that State would abide by directions of this Court. It had finalized the admission pending clarification from the Department of General Administration of the Government.

(2.) We failed to understand the stand. Once Court has settled a position then the decision of the Court or the implementation thereof cannot be postponed or delayed awaiting orders from one or the other Department for that would make the decision of the Court subordinate to the decision of the administrative authority. It would be destruction of rule of law. If this is permitted, then notwithstanding judgment of the Court, an administrative authority can sleep over the matter, consign the judgment to waste paper basket on the ground that another Department has not yet given clarification as to implementation of the judgment and, therefore, judgment is of no value. This would only be mockery of the whole system. Once any authority, who is bound by the judgment is aware of the judgment, then he is obliged to act in accordance with the judgment. The application of judgment cannot be postponed till any other authority takes a decision in the matter.

(3.) Thus, we are clearly of the opinion that the State has failed to follow the judgment of the Full Bench without any reasonable cause.