ORDER

1. The appellant/petitioner is aggrieved by an order dated 22.07.2019, passed by the learned Single Judge, dismissing a writ petition filed by him for issuing a writ of mandamus to the respondent No.1/All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for granting him admission in the MBBS-2019 Course under the OBC quota and for declaring Condition No.3 stipulated in the Prospectus, as redundant.

2. First, a glance at the undisputed facts of the case. On 19.2.2019, respondent No.1/AIIMS issued a Prospectus inviting applications for admission in AIIMS, New Delhi and fourteen other AIIMS for the Session-2019. The Prospectus contains detailed information relating to the registration and submission of application forms, the eligibility criteria and the entire process of selection. The appellant/petitioner applied for admission to the MBBS-2019 Course under the OBC quota and appeared in the Entrance Examination wherein, he secured rank 12 in the OBC category and rank 91 in the General category.

3. On the appellant/petitioner being selected in the online counselling for the MBBS-2019 Course that took place on 26.6.2019, respondent No.1/AIIMS issued him an offer letter dated 29.6.2019, offering him a seat at AIIMS, New Delhi in the OBC category. He was asked to appear before the Registrar, AIIMS, New Delhi on 4.7.2019 for completion of requisite formalities. Enclosed with the offer letter dated 29.6.2019, was an "Information Brochure for 1st Round of Online Seat Allocation/Counselling" that lays down the procedure required to be followed by candidates who were allotted seats in the 1st Round of Online Seat Allocation/Counselling. The said Brochure required candidates to submit documents/certificates, listed at Sr. No.(i) to Sr. No.(vii), alongwith a Demand Draft, as applicable. Relevant for our consideration is Clause (vii)(b) of the Brochure that is reproduced below:

"vii) The Candidate should also bring the following certificate, if applicable:

a. x x x x x x

b. OBC Certificate issued by the competent authority for central Govt. jobs/for admission in Central Govt. College/Institute. The sub-caste should tally with the Central List of OBC. OBC Candidates should not belong to Creamy Layer. OBC certificate must be in the Central Govt. Format as prescribed in the Prospectus."

4. Clause (vii) (b) is to be read in consonance with the relevant instructions forming a part of the Prospectus dated 19.2.2019. Condition 3 under the head `Registration & Submission of Application Form' and Condition 4.1 under the head `Number of Seats & Reservation' read as under:

"3. The OBC-NCL certificate must be valid for admission for Central Government institutions. The date of validity of certificate shall be one day prior to the date of 1st Counselling/seat allocation."

"4.1 CRITERIA FOR OTHER BACKWARD CLASSES (NON-CREAMY LAYER) [OBC]