Judgment :-

K.S. RADHAKRISHNAN, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. We are, in this case, concerned with the question whether an MBBS seat which fell vacant in the year 2010 could be carried forward to the year 2012 so as to accommodate a candidate who was in the merit list published in the year 2010.

3. We may, for answering the above question, refer to few relevant facts. Admissions to various professional courses like medical, engineering, dental etc. are being made by the Jammu & Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination (for short ‘Board’), which was constituted under the J & K Board of Professional Entrance Examination Act 2002. The Board is vested with the statutory duty of conducting common entrance test for selecting meritorious candidates for admission to the various professional courses in the State of Jammu & Kashmir. In the academic year 2010, 249 seats for MBBS courses in various Government Medical Colleges of Jammu & Kashmir State had to be filled up. The Board initiated steps for making selection for the meritorious candidates against the above mentioned seats. In terms of Section 9 of the Jammu & Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004, 50% of the total number of seats had to b