RAKESH GURJAR Vs. STATE OF RAJASTHAN

JUDGEMENT

(1.) IN all the aforesaid writ petitions as many as 192 students have approached this Court with the prayer that respondent Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, Jaipur, be directed to allow them to appear in Second M.B.B.S. Examination, 2013, commencing from 17.01.2013 and to be continued till 07.02.2013. Petitioners have assailed the order issued by Rajasthan University of Health Sciences, Jaipur (for short, 'the respondent University') dt. 16.01.2013, whereby they have been debarred from appearing in the aforesaid examination on the premise that they have not completed minimum required study of 18 months in the Phase -I (pre -clinical) inclusive of the period of examination. In all the writ petitions, except Writ Petition No. 818/2013, petitioners appeared in the First M.B.B.S. Examination, held in July, 2011, however, result thereof was declared on 17.10.2011 and they could not pass the said examination. Some of the petitioners applied for revaluation and thereafter their result was declared on 25.01.2012 and they were declared pass. Second category of petitioners are those, who were allowed second attempt in some of the subjects. They appeared in the remanded papers of such subjects by way of second attempt in January, 2012, result of which was declared on 28.04.2012. As far as petitioner Anju Choudhary in Writ Petition No. 818/2013 is concerned, she was admitted to Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, and her admission was challenged by other students alleging the same to be illegal. Ultimately, the matter reached the Supreme Court. It was under the interim order passed by the Supreme Court dt. 08.09.2011, that petitioner Anju Choudhary, along -with several others, was permitted to appear in First M.B.B.S. Examination, which commenced from 10.09.2011, however, it was directed that their result may not be declared and they may not be allowed to pursue further studies unless permitted by the Supreme Court. Subsequently by order dt. 08.09.2011 the Supreme Court provisionally permitted them to attend the classes, even though their result of First M.B.B.S. Examination was not declared but at the same time, it was made clear that this would not entitle them to claim any equity and if the order is altered by the final order, the students will not get any relief. By yet another order dt. 25.01.2012, the petitioners before the Supreme Court were allowed to take examination scheduled to commence from 30th/31st January, 2012, however the respondent -University was directed to produce the result of previous M.B.B.S. Examination in a sealed cover. Petitioner Anju Choudhary has contended that even though result of First M.B.B.S. Examination was declared on 10.10.2012, though she did not clear the same in earlier attempt but the Supreme Court by order dt. 08.09.2011 yet allowed her to attend the classes, therefore, at -least from 10.09.2011 it should be taken that she started attending classes with regular batch of students, who had qualified the First M.B.B.S. Examination.

(2.) SHRI Ashok Gaur, learned senior counsel, and Shri Saransh Saini as well as Shri Kapil Gupta, learned counsel for petitioners, have contended that the respondent University issued admit cards to the petitioners to appear in the Second M.B.B.S. Examination, which were scheduled to commence from 17.01.2013. However, the respondent -University, by their order dt. 16.01.2013, addressed to all the Principals of the Medical Colleges of the State, purported to have been passed on the basis of the judgment of this Court in S.B. Civil Writ Petition No. 350/2013 titled as Rajendra Kumar Sharma vs. State of Rajasthan, has illegally directed that such of the students, whose period of study after their qualifying First M.B.B.S. Examination upto the Second M.B.B.S. Examination, fall -short of 18 months, as required by Ordinance 268(b) of the University Ordinances, should not be allowed to appear in the Second M.B.B.S. Examination scheduled to commence from 17.01.2013.

(3.) SHRI Ashok Gaur, learned senior counsel submitted that despite aforesaid judgment of the coordinate -bench, another single bench of this Court at its principal seat, vide order dt. 21.01.2013, permitted the students to provisionally appear in the Second M.B.B.S. Examination. The Court while passing aforesaid order was fully conscious of the judgment of this Court in Rajendra Kumar Sharma, and granted such permission observing that the petitioners have asserted that they have attended extra classes during summer vacations and have completed the studies of 2nd Year M.B.B.S., and these facts were not available to the coordinate bench in the case of Rajendra Kumar Sharma. Besides, the single bench at the principal seat at Jodhpur also observed that delay occasioned on account of the late holding of Examination and declaration of the result belatedly in April, 2012. In those facts, petitioners were allowed to provisionally appear in the remaining Second M.B.B.S. Examination from 24.01.2013 to 07.02.2013. Learned senior counsel submitted that this Court, on the ground of parity, ought to permit the petitioners in the present case also to provisionally appear in the Second M.B.B.S. Examination.