Judgment

M. Jagannadha Rao, J.-This writ petition under Article 32 of the Constitution of India has been filed against the State of Maharashtra (1st respondent) and the Medical Education Department of the State (2nd respondent) for the issue of a writ or direction commanding the State to hold a Combined Entrance Examination for admission to Medical Colleges in the said State and to direct the State to start the proc­ess for holding the said competitive examination for the students to be admitted into medical colleges from 1998 onwards. The writ petition is based mainly on the Regulations made by the Indian Medical Council recently in 1997.

2. The petitioner has filed this case as a public interest case and has also stated that his daughter is going to appear for the 12th standard examination from the Kendriya Vidyalaya, 1, Colaba, Mumbai in March 1998 and that she will become eligible for admission to medical colleges in 1998. Petitioner states that 85% of seats in Maharashtra are available for local students because 15% are to go to the All India Pool. It is pointed out that in Maharashtra there are a large number of medical colleges affiliated to various universities-like the Bomba