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1980 Supreme(Goa) 2
Goa High Court
K. M. MISHRA, ADDL. J.C.
Vaishya Maheshkukar Jivabhai - Appellant
Versus
Dean, Goa Medical College, Panaji - Respondents
Special Civil Appln. (Writ Petn.) No. 96 of 1978
Decided On : 1 February 1980
S.K. Kakodkar, for Petitioner; J. Dias, Govt. Advocate (for Nos. 1 to 3) and R.P. Budbude, (for No. 8,), for Respondents.
A classification made by a rule or regulation must be based on an intelligible differentia and must have a rational relation to the object sought to be achieved by the rule or regulation.
Headnote:
CONSTITUTIONAL LAW - ARTICLE 14 - CLASSIFICATION - ADMISSION TO MEDICAL COLLEGE - CONDITION REQUIRING PASSING OF S.S.C. EXAMINATION FROM RECOGNIZED SCHOOLS IN UNION TERRITORY OF GOA, DAMAN AND DIU - HELD UNCONSTITUTIONAL - DISCRIMINATORY AND NOT RELATED TO OBJECT OF SECURING BEST TALENT.
Fact of the Case:
Petitioner, a bona fide resident of Diu, was denied admission to the Goa Medical College due to a condition in the prospectus requiring students to have passed the S.S.C. examination from recognized schools in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. The petitioner had passed the S.S.C. examination from a school in Gujarat affiliated to the Gujarat Secondary Education Board, which was recognized by the Goa Medical College for the purpose of the Inter-Science examination, the qualifying examination for admission to the Medical College.
Finding of the Court:
The Court held that the condition was unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. It found that the classification made by the condition was not based on any intelligible differentia and had no rational relation to the object of securing the best talent for admission to the Medical College.
Issues: 1. Whether the condition requiring students to have passed the S.S.C. examination from recognized schools in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu was constitutional.
Ratio Decidendi: The Court held that the condition was unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. It found that the classification made by the condition was not based on any intelligible differentia and had no rational relation to the object of securing the best talent for admission to the Medical College. The Court observed that the condition was discriminatory and arbitrary, and that it had no nexus with the object of the rule, which was to select the best available talent for admission to the Medical College.
Final Decision: The Court declared the condition unconstitutional and ordered it to be expunged from the prospectus. It also directed the Government to accommodate the petitioner in the Medical College either by creating a seat in the coming year or by creating a seat in the current session and carrying it forward to the next year.
ORDER :- The petitioner was an applicant for admission to the first year M.B.B.S. class (Session 1978-1979) at the Goa Medical College, Panaji, which is an institution affiliated to the Bombay University. He was not selected for admission on the ground that he had not passed the S.S.C. Examination or its equivalent examination from any of the recognized schools in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu and the present application under Art.226 of the Constitution has been filed for a declaration that the words "from any one of the recognized schools in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu" contained in Rule 3.1(ii) of the Goa Medical College, Prospectus for the Session 1978-79 are unconstitutional, ultra vires, null and void with a further prayer for issuing a direction to respondents 1, 2 and 3 to select him for admission to the said M.B.B.S. Course, if necessary, by cancelling the selection of any one of the respondents Nos. 4 to 9.
2. The case of the petitioner, as gathered from the writ application, may be indicated as follows :-
The petitioner is a bona fide resident of Diu for over 10 years. He studied in the Government Primary School, Vanakvara, Diu, for a period of six year (Standard I to VI from 1963 to 1969). Thereafter he studied up to Standard XI in Indrayon School, Veraval (Gujarat State), wherefrom he passed the Secondary School Certificate Examination of the Gujarat Secondary Education Board, Gandhinagar, held in March 1976. The secondary schools of Diu are affiliated and send all their students for the Secondary School Certificate Examination to the Gujarat Secondary Education Board, Gandhinagar. After passing the Secondary School Certificate Examination, the petitioner joined the Government Arts and Science College, Daman for Bachelor of Science Course. The said College is affiliated to the South Gujarat University. The Bachelor of Science Course is a four-year integrated Course. The first year is known as the Pre-University Science Course, the second year is the First year B.Sc., the third year is the Second Year B.Sc. and the fourth year is the Third Year B.Sc. The Pre-University Science Examination and the First Year B.Sc. Examination of the South Gujarat University have been recognized as equivalent to the First Year Science Examination and the Inter Science Examination respectively of the Bombay University. The petitioner passed Pre-University Science Examination of April 1977 of the South Gujarat University with Mathematics as one of the subjects. He then passed the First Year B.Sc. Examination of March 1978 of the South Gujarat University with 61.78% marks in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English. The prospectus of the Goa Medical College, Panaji, for the Session 1978-1979 imposes several conditions of eligibility on the students seeking admission to the M.B.B.S. Course on open merit basis. One such condition, contained in Rule 3.1(ii) is that the student shall have passed the S.S.C. or equivalent examination from any of the recognized school in the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu. The petitioner satisfied all the conditions contained in the prospectus for admission into the said course of the Goa Medical College, except the condition contained in Rule 3.1(ii) of the prospectus referred to above. It may be stated that the petitioner applied for admission to the M.B.B.S. Course in Category I (unreserved) and also under Category I(C) and II and as earlier stated, he was denied admission.
3. In the returns submitted by the respondents Nos. 1 to 3, it is stated that Diu does not have any college and hence all the students have necessarily to go to prosecute their higher studies outside Diu. In order, therefore, to assist the people of Diu and particularly the students who study in Diu, it was provided that the students should have carried on their studies culminating in passing S.S.C. in Diu. The impugned rule was therefore neither unconstitutional nor ultra vires. The words contained
