Eligibility for admission must be assessed at the application date, not examination date, ensuring no discrimination among similarly situated candidates.

JUDGMENT

CHANDRACHUD, CJI.:—This appeal, with its long and labyrinthian history, sums up how the process of law can frustrate rather than further the cause of justice. The appeal portrays the resolute story of a medical graduate who has been trying over the past eight years to obtain a post-graduate qualification. Law has both helped and hindered him in that quest. His name is Vishan Kumar Agarwal.

2. This appeal is filed by the Principal, King Georges Medical College, Lucknow, against the judgment of the Allahabad High Court dated March 27, 1980. Respondent No. 1 is Dr. Vishan Kumar Agarwal, while respondent No. 2, who supports him is the Head of the Department of Physiology of the Medical College. In a writ petition filed by Dr. V. K. Agarwal under Article 226 of the Constitution, the High Court issued a mandamus asking the appellant to declare the result of the examination for the degree of M. D. (Physiology) for which the petitioner had appeared in July 1977. We will refer to Dr. V. K. Agarwal as the respondent.

3. The question which arises in this appeal is whether the respondent possessed the requisite qualification for being admitted to the course of study for the degree of Doctor of Medicine of the Lucknow University. Having passed the M. B. B. S. Examination of the Lucknow University in July 1971, the respondent completed one years rotating compulsory internship. whereupon he was registered as a medical graduate by the State Medical Council. In August 1972, he was appointed as a Medical Officer in the Civil Hospital at Lucknow which is approved by the Medical Council for compulsory internship.

4. In October 1974, the respondent applied to the Principal, King Georges Medical College, Lucknow, for admission to the M. D. course in Physiology, which was due to commence on January 1, 1975. The Head of the Physiology Department recommended the respondents candidature, but the Principal rejected the respondents application on the ground that he did not fulfil the qualification prescribed in paragraph (i) of the second proviso to Clause (c) of Ordinance 1 of Chapter III of the Lucknow University Ordinances. The aforesaid Chapter III is entitled "Doctor of Medicine and Master of Surgery".

5. On April 4, 1975 the respondent filed a writ petition in the Allahabad High Court, out of which this appeal arises. The High Court passed an interim order on the same date asking the University to admit the petitioner to the M. D. Course in Physiology subject to the availability of a seat. The University complied with that direction by admitting the respondent to the M. D. course. But, on February 3, 1976, the Principal of the College filed an application for vacating the interim order dated April 4, 1975 by which the respondent was directed to be admitted to the M. D. Course. The application filed by the Principal was rejected on November 12, 1976 with the result that the respondent continued his studies for the M. D. degree in Physiology, uninterrupted. He submitted his thesis, which was approved by the University authorities.

6. The respondent was due to appear for the M. D. examination which was scheduled to be held in December 1976, but, he was refused an admission card without which he could not appear for the examination. Undaunted, he filed a suit in which the trial Court passed an interim order directing the University authorities not to obstruct the petitioner from appearing for the examination. The respondent appeared for the written examination but as if not to be outdone the University filed an appeal against the interim order, which came to be allowed. As a consequence of the appellate order, the appearance of the respondent at the written examination of 1976 became abortive since, it was as if he appeared for the examination without an admission card. Inevitably, he was driven to wait until the next examination which was due to be held in July, 1977. He appeared for that examination but, apprehending that the University will not