Back
2024 Supreme(J&K) 101
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU
N. Kotiswar Singh, Rajesh Sekhri, JJ.
Sara Banoo - Appellant
Versus
Ayeda Jehan and ors. – Respondents
LPA No. 41 of 2024, CAV No. 307 of 2024
Decided On : 27-03-2024
Important Points
Subject
Educational Law - Admissions
Act Referred
JAMMU AND KASHMIR Persons with Disability Act: S.22
JAMMU AND KASHMIR RESERVATION ACT: S.10, S.23, S.9
JAMMU AND KASHMIR RESERVATION RULES: R.15, R.17
Headnote
(B) Merit-based reservations - Principles of merit cum preference in admission processes outlined under Rule 15; Amended provisions of Rule 17 applicable in disputing allocations; Importance of timely approaches in the courts emphasized, along with maintaining academic integrity. (Paras 60, 62)
Facts of the case:
The Appellant and the Respondent No. 1 participated in NEET for MDS courses; Respondent No. 1 had higher ranking but received a discipline lesser than Appellant, leading to a writ petition alleging improper allocation based on merit and preference rules. (Paras 1-2, 58)
Findings of Court:
Respondent No. 1 entitled to the preferred discipline in the next academic session; compensation awarded for wrongful denial, and clarification on future admissions noted.
Issues: Main legal questions were whether the Respondent's ranking warranted her preferred allocation and the implications of merit and reserved status during admissions.
Ratio Decidendi: The court held that Respondent No. 1’s merits justified entitlement to her second choice discipline; prior decisions highlighted the principles governing merit-based admissions and alternatives outlined therein.
Result: Appeal partly allowed; Respondent No. 1 to be admitted to ‘Paedodontics and Preventive Dentistry’ in the next session, with compensation of Rs. 3 lacs awarded.
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant :Mr. Abhinav Sharma, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Abhirash Sharma, Advocate
For the Respondent:Mr. Jahangir Iqbal Ganaie, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Umar Farooq, Advocate, Mr. Raman Sharma, AAG Mr. Sumeet Bhatia, GA
| Table of Content |
|---|
| 1. background facts regarding the appeal (Para 1 , 2 , 4) |
| 2. details on admission and seat allocation rules (Para 3 , 6 , 7) |
| 3. admission process for mds courses. (Para 5) |
| 4. dispute arising from allocation based on merit (Para 8 , 14) |
| 5. merit-cum-preference for course allocation. (Para 9) |
| 6. merit-cum-preference principle requires renegotiation of course allotments. (Para 12 , 44) |
| 7. court's interpretation of allocation rules (Para 15 , 19 , 53) |
| 8. legal arguments on admission irregularities. (Para 16 , 21 , 22) |
| 9. discusses the implications of late filings for remedy in admission disputes. (Para 25) |
| 10. judgment and ordered remedies (Para 54 , 62 , 63) |
ORDER :
N. Kotiswar Singh, J.
1. The present appeal has been preferred against the judgment and order dated 21.02.2024 (for short the ‘impugned order’) rendered by the learned Single Judge in WP (C) No. 2755/2023, by which the learned Single Judge allowed the writ petition filed by the writ petitioner/Respondent No. 1 herein, seeking quashment of the allotment of the discipline/stream of “Paedodontics and Preventive Dentistry” to the Appellant and “Oral Pathology and Microbiology” in favour of the petitioner (Respondent No. 1 herein) and directing swapping of these disciplines allotted to them.
2. Before we deal with the issues raised in this appeal, it may be apposite to refer briefly to the background facts of the case.
i. The Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination-JKBOPEE (Respondent No. 3 herein) invited online applications from eligible candidates for appearing in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) MDS for admission to various MDS courses under the Dentists Act, 1948 where the present Appellant as well as the writ petitioner (Respondent No. 1 herein) along with other private respondents had participated. On the basis of the entrance test conducted by the Respondent No. 3, the Provisional Merit List of the NEET MD/MS/PG Diploma & MDS Courses-2023 candidates belonging to the UTs of J&K and Ladakh was published on 25.07.2023 in which the NEET ranking as well as the ranking in the UT were indicated.
ii. In the merit list so declared, the Respondent No. 1-Ayeda Jehan had secured 725th Rank in NEET and 19th Rank in the UT. On the other hand, the Appellant herein (Respondent No. 10 in the writ petition) - Sara Banoo had secured 13991st Rank in NEET and 65th Rank in the UT. Thus, the Respondent No. 1 was admittedly higher in ranking.
iii. As per the NEET-PG Schedule-2023, the whole process of admission of NEET-PG Session 2023-24 needed to be completed by 10.10.2023 and the Academic Session for PG Courses to be commenced by 05.09.2023.
iv. As far as the number of seats available for the Session 2023-24 is concerned, there were 21 seats available for the UTs of J&K and Ladakh which were distributed in terms of S.O 127 dated 20.04.2020 read with JK Reservation Rules, 2005. As per the aforesaid S.O 127 there is 10% reservation for RBA Category which means that out of 21 total MDS seats for Session 2023-24, 02 seats are reserved for RBA category.
| Total Seats for MDS | 21 |
| OM Category | 10 |
| STK/STL (4% of 21) | 01 |
| RBA Category (10%) | 02 |
| Other reserved categories | 09 |
v. The authorities have also earmarked the PG courses for various as follows:
| OPERATIVE | S.O 127 IMPLEMENTATION | MDS 2023 | |||||||||||
| NEET-PG (MDS)-2023 | Government Seats of MDS | ||||||||||||
| S.No | Discipline | GDC-SGR | Open Merit | EWS | Category | GDC-MU | Open Merit | Category | Open Merit | EWS | Category | Total | |
| 1 | Conservative Dentistry & Endodontics | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 4 | |
| 2 | Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | |
| 3 | Periodontics | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 4 | Prosthodontics, Crown & Bridge | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 32 | |
| 5 | Oral Medicine & Radiology | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||
