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2000 (1) CCC 31
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA
(From Delhi High Court)
Dr. A.S. Anand, CJI., D.P. Wadhwa & S. Rajendra Babu, JJ.
Veterinary Council of India -Appellant
versus
Indian Council of Agricultural Research -Respondent
I.A. Nos. 3-12, 15-18 & 23-24 of 1996
And
Contempt Petition Nos. 267-268 of 1997
In
Civil Appeal Nos. 13245-13246 of 1996
Decided on 6-1-2000
Counsel for the Parties :
For the Appearing Parties : Altaf Ahmad, Additional Solicitor General, (Pramod Swarup, Lukose Joseph Vadakara, Ms. Rani Chhabra) Advocates (N.P.), H.K. Puri, Y.K. Rao, Ms. Madhu Sikri, Advocates.
For the Intervenor/Impleading Party : B.B. Sinha and S.C. Patel, Advocates (NP).
Held : Sub-section (1) of Section 66 of the VC Act confers powers to frame regulations to carry out the purposes of the Act and read with Section 21(1)(b) and 22 of the VC Act, the VCI is authorised to frame regulations relating to prescribing standards of veterinary education for granting veterinary qualifications and such an authority must include the power to regulate admissions to the course so as to maintain the standards of education . It is not disputed that Section 22 (supra) is a valid piece of legislation enacted by the Parliament. Clause (8) of Regulation 5 (supra) has been framed by virtue of the powers vested in the VCI under Section 66 of the VC Act read with Section 22 of the VC Act. Clause (8) of Regulation 5 (supra) essentially prescribes the manner and method of determining comparative merit of the candidates so that admissions are granted to students who qualify at the All India Entrance Examination to the various institutions and faculties, on merits. The impugned regulation, therefore, did not suffer from any vice whatsoever. It has been framed to further the object of the Act. It could not have been declared ultra vires the Act or otherwise invalid on any other ground. (Para 15)
Regulation of admissions has a direct impact on the maintenance of standards of education and in exercise of its power to prescribe and maintain standards of education, the VCI has the right as well as an obligation to regulate admissions to the veterinary institutions against the 15% All India quota by framing appropriate regulations. Since the power to regulate the standards of education in veterinary science prescribed by the Council is vested in VCI under the VC Act, the corresponding duty to conduct an All India Entrance Examination for filling up of 15% of seats, on merits, of All India Quota, must also vest in it. VCI is competent and has the requisite powers, with a view to maintain the standards of education, to hold the All India Entrance Examination for filling up of 15% of total number of seats under Clause (8) of Regulation 5 (supra). (Paras 17, 19 & 20)
JUDGMENT
A.S. Anand, CJI.-Which out of the two organizations, i.e., the Veterinary Council of India or the Indian Council of Agricultural Research, is empowered to hold an All Indian Common Entrance Examination to fill 15% seats in the Veterinary Colleges/faculies, is the only meaningful question which we are called upon to decide in these appeals by special leave?
2. Undisputed facts for answering the above question are briefly set out hereunder:
The Veterinary Council of India (hereinafter "VCI") has been established under Section 3 of the Indian Veterinary Council Act, 1984 (hereinafter "VC Act") for regulation of veterinary practice and for matters connected therewith or ancillary thereto under Section 22 of the Act. It is empowered to specify, by regulation, the minimum standards of veterinary education for granting recognised degrees/diplomas in veterinary science by various institutions affiliated to or as a part of the State Agricultural Universities. The Act has been enacted by invoking Article 252 of the Constitution since the subject matter of the Act falls in the State List (Entry 15 of List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution) and the Concurrent List (Entry 25 of List III of the Seventh Schedule), the Parliament was authorised to pass the requisite legislation by the Legislatures of the States of Haryana, Bihar, Orissa, Himachal Pradesh and Rajasthan through resolutions passed by the Legislatures of these States. The Parliament, therefore, enacted the V.C. Act in 1984.
3. The Indian Council of Agricultural Research (hereinafter "ICAR") is a Society, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, whose affairs are controlled by the Central Government in the Ministry of Agriculture, Department of Agricultural research and Education (hereinafter "DARE") in view of Schedule-II, Entry B, Part-III, Item 12 of the Government of India (Allocation of Business Rules), 1961 framed under Article 77(3) of the Constitution of India. The main object of ICAR is:
"(a) To undertake, aid, promote and co-ordinate agricultural and animal husbandry education, research and its application in practice development and marketing in India and its protectorates and any other areas in or in relation to which the Government of India has and exercises any jurisdiction by treaty, agreement, grant, usage, sufferance or other lawful means by all means calculated to increase secure its adoption in every day practice."
4. In exercise of the powers conferred by Section 22 of the Act and with the previous approval of the Central Government, the VCI framed certain regulations relating to minimum standards of veterinary education, which had earlier been discussed in a National Workshop jointly sponsored by the ICAR and the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University on 6th and 7th of February, 1993 at Madras on Veterinary Education . It was resolved in that Workshop that an All India Common Test be conducted by the VCI. Regulations, called the Indian Veterinary Council of India (Minimum Standards of Veterinary Education) Degree courses (B.V.Sc and AH) Regulations, 1993 (hereinafter "the Regulations) were thereafter framed under Section 22 of the Act and published in the Government Gazette on 7th of February, 1994. Clause (8) of regulation 5 of the Regulation (which is the bone of contention between the VCI and ICAR) reads thus :
"(8)-15% of the total number of seats of each Veterinary College shall be reserved to be filled on All India basis through Common Entrance Examination to be conducted by the Veterinary Council of India."
5. Pursuant to the aforesaid regulation, the VCI conducted an All India Common Entrance Examination for the academic year 1995-96 for allotments of students to various Veterinary Colleges and faculties of the State Agricultural Universities on 28th May, 1995 against the 15% quota. For the academic year 1996-97, the VCI also published an admission notice on 25th November, 1995 inviting applications for appear
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