S.C. Dharmadhikari, J.

1. By this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the petitioner seeks a writ of mandamus or any other appropriate writ, order or direction in the nature thereof, directing respondent no. 2 to consider her as belonging to Other Backward Category (OBC) in the second round of admission for MBBS degree course for academic year 2016-17.

2. Very few facts are required to be referred to for the purpose of appreciating the submissions of the petitioner's senior counsel.

3. As already referred above, the admissions are to the MBBS degree course. The academic year is 2016-17. The petitioner is citizen of India residing in Mumbai, whereas, all the respondents are the authorities as per the rules and regulations for these admissions, particularly to MBBS degree course.

4. The petitioner states that the second round of allocation of seats is expected to commence from 17th August, 2016. The petitioner has been a bright and intelligent student throughout her career. She has successfully completed her S. S. C. examination by securing 95.40% marks and H. S. C. examination by securing 83.85% marks. She claims that she belongs to Vaishyawani caste, which is recognised as OBC under Government Resolution No. CBC-10/2014 dated 1st March, 2014, as amended from time to time. The competent authority has issued a caste certificate and the petitioner has also obtained the caste validity certificate. Thus, armed with these two certificates and the educational qualifications, the petitioner applied for the Maharashtra State Common Entrance Test for procuring admission in MBBS degree course under the OBC category. The petitioner filled in the application form, copy of which is at Annexure 'F'. Before proceeding further, we would reproduce hereinbelow the relevant particulars in the form as filled in by the petitioner herself:-

5. The petitioner states that on the date of presentation of this application, she did not possess the non-creamy layer certificate. She, therefore, mentioned in the column regarding possession of such a certificate as negative/No.

6. She appeared for this common entrance test conducted by the second respondent/competent authority on 5th May, 2016. The result of the said examination was declared on 1st June, 2016. The petitioner obtained 178 marks out of 200 marks in the said examination. On 10th June, 2016, State Merit List was declared and the petitioner was placed at serial number 1600. In the result, the category under which the petitioner had applied is mentioned as OBC. The petitioner states that the list was thereafter amended on 20th July, 2016. The petitioner is now placed at serial number 1589. On the declaration of the result of this examination, the petitioner applied for admission in the first round on 15th June, 2016 and submitted her preference. In para 9 of the writ petition, the petitioner has stated thus:-

“9. The Petitioner states that the Petitioner applied for admission in the 1st round of MBBS on 15.06.2016 and submitted her preferences. The petitioner states the Petitioner did not possess the Non-Creamy Layer Certificate at the time of filing this preference form for the reasons beyond her control. Therefore, the Petitioner was treated amongst general category candidates in 1st round of admission of MBBS though the form was filled as OBC candidate. Having realized the Petitioner visited the office of the Respondent No. 2 and requested to consider her candidature under the OBC category. The Petitioner even requested