MILIND NIKHARE Vs. MALVIYA REGIONAL ENGINEERING COLLEGE SOCIETY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) A short but an important question of law is involved in this case.

(2.) The petitioner alleged in the writ petition that his father was transferred from Bhopal (M. P.) to Jaipur (Rajasthan) in the month of July, 1976 and since then he is working here. The father of the petitioner is an employee of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission and he has to move about in different parts of the country as and when transferred. The petitioner passed All India Senior School Certificate Examination in Science in 1981 from the Central School, Jaipur. The Senior School Certificate is based on 10+2 system and the petitioner passed the final year of this course. The petitioner belongs to the State of Maharashtra and has been recognised as a scheduled tribe under the Scheduled Tribes Order, 1950 issued by the Government of India. The petitioner applied for admission in 4 years Engineering Degree Course at the Malviya Regional Engineering College, Jaipur, which is one of the Regional Engineering Colleges established in the country sponsored by the Government of India. The petitioner was called for interview on 11-8-1981 and was selected. The petitioner was also asked to deposit admission fees which he did at once on the same day. According to the scheme of arrangements between various regional colleges of engineering established in the country, the petitioner was selected in Electrical Engineering Degree Course at Allahabad against one seat of Scheduled Tribe candidate for students qualifying from schools or colleges from Rajasthan for 1981-82. The allegation of the petitioner is that the respondents refused to give the petitioner the necessary clearance and admission card without any valid reason. The petitioner, however, learnt that the admission card was not given by the respondents on the ground that he did not belong to a scheduled tribe in the State of Rajasthan. In the aforesaid circumstances, the petitioner filed this writ petition seeking an appropriate writ, order or direction from this court to the respondents not to withhold admission of the petitioner in Electrical Engineering Course for which he has been selected. It has been further prayed that the respondents may be directed to give necessary clearance and admission card to the petitioner so that he may be able to join his classes at Allahabad.

(3.) In response to a show cause notice given to the respondents, a reply was filed. The stand taken by the respondents is that the petitioner belonged to a Scheduled Tribe recognised in the State of Maharashtra, but the said scheduled tribe is not recognised in Rajasthan. It has been admitted that the petitioner was called for interview on 11th Aug., 1981 and he deposited the fees. It is, however, not admitted that he was selected or that his admission was finally cleared. It was made clear to the petitioner that unless he satisfied the respondents that he belonged to a scheduled tribe of Rajasthan, his admission would not be cleared. It has further been averred that "Halba" is a scheduled tribe recognised for the State of Maharashtra only and so far as Rajasthan is concerned 'Habla' is not a scheduled tribe at all.