Exercise of jurisdiction under Article 142 to provide relief based on individual circumstances despite technical ineligibility.

ORDER :

R.C. Lahoti, J.

Leave granted.

2. The appellant sought for admission in MSc (Physics) course of study. The rules of the University required that the candidate, to be qualified for admission, should have secured not less than 55% marks in the qualifying examination. The qualifying examination is BSc (Physics). Admittedly, the appellant had secured 549 marks out of a total of 1000 and this is how her percentage came to 54.9%. She was allowed admission by the college. Later on, her application came to the notice of the University. The University formed an opinion that rounding off of the fraction to the nearest whole number was not permissible, and, therefore, the appellant was ineligible for seeking admission.

3. The appellant was allowed admission in June 1999. The decision of the University is dated 19-8-1998 wherein the University has clarified through a resolution' "but not to grant the request for rounding off marks to 0.5 and above to the nearest figure to enable them to apply for higher studies". The case of the college which allowed admission to the appellant is that such decision of the University was not brought to its notice and hence not to the notice of the appellant too.

4. The fact remains that the appellant has completed the course of study. She had been prosecuting two years' course of study and she has also taken the final examination, the result whereof has been held up from declaration on account of the pendency of these court proceedings.

5. The High Court has taken a view that the admission granted to the appellant was in violation of the rule and, therefore, the ineligibility is not liable to be condoned.

6. Without entering into the question of correctness or otherwise of the view taken by the High Court, we think the present one to be a fit case for giving relief to the appellant on the facts and circumstances of the case, exercising our jurisdiction under Article 142 of the Constitution of India; the marks secured by the appellant in the qualifying examination fell short only by one mark in the total of 1000. That apart, she has prosecuted her full course of study and has also taken the examination, the result whereof only remains to be declared. We deem it a just and proper case to direct the respondents to declare the appellant's result without treating her as ineligible or disqualified. Needless to say, inasmuch the order is being passed in the totality of the facts and circumstances of this case, it does not become a precedent for other cases.

7. The appeal stands disposed of in the aforesaid terms.