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2006 Supreme(Del) 1738
High Court Of Delhi
Anil Kumar
MADAN MOHAN - Appellant
Versus
GURU GOVIND SINGH INDRAPRASHTHA UNIVERSITY - Respondents
W. P. (C) 13035 Of 2006
Decided On : 09/29/2006
G.D.GOEL, Jayant Bhushan, R.K.SAINI, SURESH KAIT
The principle of rounding off in mathematics should be applied to determine reservation allocations, and petitions challenging reservation policies should not be considered delayed based on the timing of counseling.
Headnote:
Reservation - Scheduled Tribes - 2006-07 - 4.1, 4.2
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner, a Scheduled Tribe candidate, challenged the allocation of only 7 seats out of 100 for Scheduled Tribes in the MBBS program, contrary to the 7.5% reservation policy. The petitioner sought the allocation of 8 seats and a direction to fill one seat through counseling.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the reservation for Scheduled Tribes should have been rounded off to 8 seats based on the principle of rounding off in mathematics. The court also rejected the respondents' arguments regarding delay in filing the petition and the allocation of seats to Nagaland and citizens of Maldives.
Issues: Reservation allocation for Scheduled Tribes, delay in filing the petition, and allocation of seats to Nagaland and citizens of Maldives.
Ratio Decidendi: The reservation for Scheduled Tribes should be rounded off based on the principle of rounding off in mathematics. The court also held that the petition was not delayed and rejected the allocation of seats to Nagaland and citizens of Maldives as reasons for not allocating 8 seats to Scheduled Tribes.
Final Decision: The court directed the respondents to allocate one more seat to the category of Scheduled Tribes for the year 2006-07, subject to availability, and to make diligent endeavors to fill the seat in accordance with rules and regulations.
ANIL KUMAR, J.
( 1 ) RULE. WITH the consent of the parties the petition is taken for final disposal. The point for consideration in this writ petition is that if the reservation for scheduled Tribes is 7. 5% out of 100 seats whether the action of respondent No. 1 in allocating only seven seats is justifiable and in accordance with the policy for reservation.
( 2 ) THE facts relevant for determination of controversies are that the petitioner belongs to Scheduled Tribe Community. He applied for appearing in Combined entrance Test MBBS, 2006 conducted by respondent No. 1. As the petitioner fulfilled all the requirement of educational qualification he was issued an admit card for CET MBBS, 2006 and the result of the Combined Entrance Test was declared where the rank of the petitioner was 6250.
( 3 ) ACCORDING to the selection procedure, the Scheduled Caste candidates having more than 40% marks were included in the merit list. The candidates higher in the merit list were to be adjusted against the subsidized seats and thereafter the candidates were to be adjusted against non-subsidized seats.
( 4 ) THE prospectus contemplated commencing of first counseling on 3rd July, 2006. The detailed schedule was displayed on University's website and university's notice board on 23rd June, 2006 and no separate communication was to be sent.
( 5 ) FROM the vacancies arising due to dropout after first counselling, the vacancies were to be notified on 15th July, 2006 and the second counselling was contemplated for 25th July, 2006.
( 6 ) THE Admission Brochure III for MBBS Programme Session, 2006 incorporated reservation and region-wise allocation of seats. According to the reservation, five subsidized seats were allocated for Scheduled Tribe candidates for all india region category and two subsidized seats were allocated for Delhi region category. Clause 4 of the Admission Brochure III is as under:
"4. Reservation and region-wise allocation of seats region-wise and Category-wise allocation of seats in Vardhman mahavir Medical College, which has been set up on "all India Pattern", is as under: 4. 1 Region-wise and Category-wise . Category Number of Seats A. Subsidized General 8 SC 3 ST 5 B. Non-subsidized Open for all Categories 9 Total of I 25 . Delhi Region Category Category Number of Seats A. Subsidized General 20 SC 12 ST 02 B. Non-subsidized Open for all Categories 16 Total of II 50 III All India Quota to be filled Through CBSE 15 IV Central Pool of Allocation 10 Total of III & IV 25 Grand Total : I+ii+iii+iv 100 Allocation of Seats:
Reservation for Physically Handicapped Person : One seat for physically handicapped person will be filled on the basis of merit from any region and category. The reservation for the physically handicapped candidates would be as per Medical Council of India Guidelines. "
( 7 ) THE Admission Brochure III categorically stipulated that in case of unfilled seat reserved for Scheduled Caste will be treated reserved for Scheduled Tribes and vice versa and in case sufficient number of eligible candidates of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe not be available, the seat thus remaining vacant will be treated as unreserved. The relevant Clause 4. 2 of Admission Brochure III is as under:
"4. 2 Scheduled Castes/scheduled Tribes candidates any unfilled seat reserved for Scheduled Castes (SC) will be treated as reserved for Scheduled Tribes (ST) and vice versa. In case sufficient number of eligible candidates of SC and ST are not available, the seats thus remaining vacant will be treated as unreserved. A Caste Certificate in the name of the applicant from a competent authority will have to be submitted at the time of admission. In case the certificate is in the candidate's parents name, admission will be provisional. In such a case, the candidate must produce the requisite certificate in his or her name within one week from the date of admission. A list of approved authorities to issued
