JUDGMENT

THAKKAR, J.—What may appear to be equal treatment accorded in obeisance to the equality doctrine embodied in Article 14 of the Constitution in its application in reality may result in denial of equality and may accordingly be liable to be condemned for defying the equality doctrine. This has been illustrated by the provision embodied in Ordinance No. 278-E(d)(ii) of the Ordinance of University of Rajasthan which provides for uniform addition of 5% marks to the students applying for admission to the postgraduate course in any one of the five Medical Colleges provided the student has passed his final MBBS Examination from the College to which admission in post-graduate course is sought. The said provision has been held to be unconstitutional and in our opinion the conclusion reached by the High Court is right though the reasoning which has commended itself to this Court is somewhat different.

2. Three Writ Petitions were instituted in the Rajasthan High Court, (Jaipur Bench) by the Writ Petitioners who sought admission to post-graduate courses in the Colleges affiliated to the Rajasthan University. There are five such Medical Colleges at five different centres in Rajasthan, viz. Jaipur, Bikaner, Udaipur, Jodhpur and Ajmer. It appears that for the purpose of securing admission to these Colleges the applicants seeking admission have to appear at a competitive examination called PMG. The passing of this Examination is a pre-condition for securing admission to the PMG course in any one of the aforesaid five Colleges in Rajasthan. The PMG competitive examination is common for all the five Medical Colleges. There is one syllabus and one combined examination is conducted by the University. The successful candidates are entitled to addition of 5% marks in the percentage of aggregate marks by way of institutional preference if the concerned candidates had passed the final MBBS Examination conducted by the Rajasthan University. A further addition of 5% of marks by way of institutional preference in the sense of preference dependent on the particular Medical College at which the concerned candidate has passed his final MBBS examination is also provided. It is this college-based institutional preference which has given rise to the present controversy. Such preference is rooted in the impugned provision namely Ordinance 278-E(d) which deserves to be quoted:-

"(d) The total marks so obtained shall be converted into percentage. The percentage so obtained shall be increased as follows :

(i) By 5 if the applicant passed the final M.B.B.S. Examination for (from?) the Rajasthan University.

(ii) By another 5 if the applicant passed the Final M.B.B.S. Examination from the same institution for which selections are being made."

The Writ Petitioners contended that this provision violated the equality principle enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution of India and was accordingly unconstitutional. It appears that while each of the five Medical Colleges in Rajasthan is conducting post-graduate courses in specified specialities and super specialities, the Doctors who have graduated from all the Medical Colleges in Rajasthan by and large consider admission to post-graduate courses at SMS College at Jaipur as most advantageous. In other words securing admission in post-graduate course at Jaipur in SMS College is considered to be an achievement and the courses at Jaipur are the most sought after courses. The reasons underlying this keenness to secure admission in Jaipur College are understandable inasmuch as :

(i) there are many more seats available for PG courses; and

(ii) there are many more specialities available at the Jaipur College as compared to other Colleges.

3. A Tabular statement reflecting the positions of seats in the five Medical Colleges may be scrutinized:-

Subject S. M. S. Medical College Jaipur S. N. Medical College Jodhpur R. N. T. Medical College Udaipur S. P. Medical College Bikaner J. L. N. Medical College Ajmer Total

1. Genl. surger