IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that candidates under the Sports Quota must be admitted based on their achievements, prioritizing those with higher qualifications as per the rules.

ORDER :

1. This writ petition seeking the following reliefs:

“(a) Direct the respondents to admit/allot the petitioner MBBS Seat under Sports Quota in furtherance of the directions issued by the Government/5threspondent vide letter dated 19.08.2023 at Annexure-AG, opinion of the Law Department dated 06.10.2023 vide Annexure-AK and letter of the Government/5threspondent addressed to the first respondent dated 11.10.2023 vide Annexure-AL.

(b) Pass any order of consequential relief or any other appropriate order or direction as this Hon’ble Court deems fit in the facts and circumstances of the case in the ends of justice and equity.”

2. Heard learned counsel Mr. B.M. Arun for the petitioner, learned counsel Mr. N.K. Ramesh for respondent No. 1, learned Additional Government Advocate Smt. Mamatha Shetty for respondent Nos.2, 5 and 6, learned counsel Mr. N. Khetty for respondent No. 3, learned Deputy Solicitor General of India Mr. H. Shanthi Bhushan for respondent No. 4 and learned counsel Mr. Sridhar Prabhu for respondent No. 7.

3. The petitioner is a Swimmer secured one Silver Medal and four Bronze Medals in the National Level Championship conducted by Swimming Federation of India. She has secured one Silver Medal in the South Zone Aquatic Championship. It is stated that the petitioner has participated in the 63rd, 64th and 65th National School Games conducted by the School Games Federation of India. The petitioner represented Karnataka in KHELO India in 2020. In the year 2017, she participated in the National Level Swimming Championship conducted by the Swimming Federation of India.

4. The petitioner aspiring to become a Doctor appeared for CET and NEET Examinations for the academic year 2022-23. Respondent No. 1-Karnataka Examination Authority [KEA] published list of candidates comprising 618 candidates eligible for admission under the Sports Quota. The petitioner was placed at S. No. 24. The list was revised on 08.10.2022, changing the petitioner’s place to S. No. 29.

5. It is stated that respondent No. 1 admitted candidates in the Sports Quota contrary to the list published. It is the specific case that respondent No. 7 was at S. No. 117 in the first list and at S. No. 129 in the second list and admitted to Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Nehru Nagar, Belgaum. Another candidate named Pranitha S.R. whose name was not figured in the published list was admitted to Dr. Chandramma Dayanandasagar Institute of Medical Education. In view of the arbitrary exercise of admitting the candidates contrary to the published list, the petitioner is deprived of admission to medical course. It is stated that the respondent-authorities were evasive in their replies and conduct on the discrepancies in the list.

6. It is stated that this Court in Writ Petition No. 23265/2022 directed to re-do the ranking list under the Sports Quota. The petitioner made a representation on 21.12.2022 to respondent Nos. 1 and 2 to consider the petitioner while re-doing the rank list. The said request was denied stating that the said exercise was to be done only of a particular candidates. Though the petitioner preferred Writ Petition No. 25780/2022, withdrew the same on 03.01.2023. It is contended that the denial of admission is in contravention of Rule 9(1)(B) of Karnataka Selection of Candidates for Admission to Government Seats in Professional Educational Institutions Rules, 2006 [hereinafter referred to as ‘Rules 2006’ for short]. The respondent Nos. 1 and 7 have filed their statement of objections to the writ petition.

7. Learned counsel for the petitioner submits that allotment of seats is as per Rules 2006. Rule 9 of Rules 2006 provides for reservation of seats under different categories. As per Rule 9(1)(B), reservation is provided to the candidates under Sports category. As per the said Rule, the petitioner was categorized as P-IV. Respondent No. 7 was categorized as P-V. The authorities have committed an error in denying admission to the petitioner to MBBS. The a