Judicial Analysis Court Copy Headnote Facts Arguments Court observation

2025 Supreme(J&K) 129

IN THE HIGH COURT OF JAMMU & KASHMIR AND LADAKH AT JAMMU
WASIM SADIQ NARGAL, J.
Ansh Mahajan S/o Rajesh Mahajan – Appellant
Versus
Ut of J & K Through Its Commissioner/Secretary, Health And Medical Education Department, Civil Secretariat, Jammu – Respondent
WP (C) No. 2379, 2648 of 2024
Decided on : 13-03-2025

Advocates:
Advocate Appeared:
For the Appellant :Mr. Pranav Kohli, Sr. Advocate with Mr. Sachin Dev Singh, Advocate
For the Respondent: Mrs. Monika Kohli, Sr. AAG Mr. Sumeet Bhatia, GA.
Mr. Aditya Gupta, Advocate. Mr. Munish Sharma, Advocate.

The court ruled that an EWS certificate obtained through fraud is void ab initio, emphasizing that admissions must adhere to merit and integrity of the reservation system.

Headnote:
(A) Constitution of India - Article 226 - Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004 - SRO 518 dated 02.09.2019 - Writ petition challenging the admission of a candidate under Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category based on fraudulent certification - The petitioner alleged that the private respondent misrepresented his status to secure admission, violating the reservation rules. The court found that the private respondent had previously registered under the Reserved Backward Area (RBA) category and was ineligible for EWS benefits. The court upheld the cancellation of the EWS certificate and directed the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) to allocate the seat to the next meritorious candidate. (Paras 1-152)

(B) Fraud - Definition and implications - The court emphasized that any admission or benefit obtained through fraudulent means is void ab initio, and the principle of 'clean hands' applies, denying relief to those who engage in deceitful practices. (Paras 120-124)

(C) Admission process - The court reiterated the importance of adhering to merit in admissions, stating that the integrity of the admission process must be maintained to ensure fairness and transparency. (Paras 145-149)

Judgement Key Points

Based on the provided legal document, the following key points emerge:

The court emphasized that any EWS certificate obtained through fraudulent means is void ab initio, meaning it is considered invalid from the outset (!) (!) .
The issuance of the EWS certificate to the private respondent, despite their previous registration under a different reservation category (RBA), was found to be illegal and in violation of reservation rules, as the individual was already benefiting from another reservation category (!) (!) .
The fraudulent concealment of material facts, such as the private respondent’s prior reservation under RBA and their residential status, was established through thorough enquiry, leading to the cancellation of the EWS certificate (!) (!) .
The authority responsible for issuing the EWS certificate has the legal power to revoke or withdraw the certificate if it was obtained fraudulently or through misrepresentation, which was upheld by the court (!) (!) .
The case was considered an exceptional one, warranting the bypass of the usual alternate remedy (such as filing an appeal) due to the urgency, time-sensitive nature, and the fundamental questions of legality involved. The court exercised its discretion to adjudicate directly (!) (!) .
The writ petitions were held to be not maintainable in their current form because the petitioner did not specifically challenge the detailed cancellation order or the enquiry report, which formed the basis of the cancellation of the EWS certificate (!) (!) .
The petitioner’s conduct, including misrepresentation, concealment of material facts, and suppression of relevant documents, demonstrated that they did not come with clean hands. As such, the doctrine of "clean hands" barred them from obtaining equitable relief (!) (!) .
The principle that certificates obtained through fraud or misrepresentation are null and void was reaffirmed, leading to the conclusion that the petitioner’s admission based on such a certificate is also invalid (!) (!) .
The court directed that the vacated seat, resulting from the cancellation of the fraudulent EWS certificate, should be offered to the next eligible candidate in merit, with a process to verify their willingness and eligibility. If the candidate declines, the seat should then be offered to the subsequent meritorious candidate (!) (!) .
Overall, the court upheld the integrity of the reservation and admission process, emphasizing that benefits obtained through fraudulent means are to be revoked, and that merit and fairness must be the guiding principles in allocation of seats (!) (!) .

These points collectively reinforce the importance of honesty and adherence to reservation rules, the authority’s power to revoke certificates procured through misrepresentation, and the court’s willingness to intervene directly in cases involving fraud and time-sensitive issues to uphold justice and fairness.

JUDGMENT :

WP (C) No. 2379/2024

1. Petitioner through the medium of instant petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India seeks the following reliefs:-

a. allow the instant petition;

b. issue a writ of or any other writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of certiorari for quashing the impugned Provisional Selection list of candidates of UT of J&K /Ladakh for MBBS/BDS Course 2024 issued vide Notification No. 093-BOPEE of 2024 dated: 03.09.2024 by Respondent No. 3 to the extent of illegal selection/admission of Private Respondent No. 5 to MBBS course under Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category;

c. issue a writ of or any other writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of mandamus for Directing Respondent No. 4 to inquire and verify the EWS status/certificate of Private Respondent No. 5 with immediate effect and further revocation of the same, if found fraudulent, illegal, or invalid in the light of Rule 2 clause (ixa) of Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005 read with SRO 518 dated: 02.09.2019 along-with Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Act, 2004;

d. issue a writ of or any other writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of mandamus for Commanding Respondent No. 1 to forthwith conduct thorough verification of EWS status/certificate of Private Respondent No. 5 and to further revoke his admission, if, upon verification, the EWS certificate is found fraudulent, illegal or invalid;

e. issue a writ of or any other writ, order or direction in the nature of writ of mandamus for Commanding Respondent No. 2 to allocate the vacant EWS MBBS seat, if any, to the Petitioner in the subsequent, i.e., 3^rd round of NEET-UG 2024 Counselling, as the Petitioner is an immediate next meritorious EWS candidate after the last selectee to MBBS at cut-off marks (i.e., at 404 marks);

BRIEF FACTS:

2. The facts leading to filing of the instant petition are that a public notice dated 09.02.2024 has been advertised by Respondent No. 6 inviting thereby online application forms for the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test [(NEET (UG)] 2024. The Petitioner being fully eligible offered his candidature for the said examination by way of applying to the same under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category. Subsequent thereto, NEET-UG 2024 was conducted on 5th May, 2024 and petitioner appeared in the said OMR-based examination and accordingly, Respondent No. 3 issued result/Provisional Merit list (PML) of NEET-UG 2024 of the candidates belonging to the UT of J&K/Ladakh in terms of Notification No. 084-BOPEE of 2024 dated 25.08.2024 , wherein, the name of Petitioner bearing Roll No. 2501300413 is reflected against UT Rank 3280 under Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category and the name of Private Respondent No. 5 (Mohd. Umar Farooq), bearing Roll No. 2501110407 is reflected against UT Rank 1474 under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category.

3. The further case of the petitioner is that in terms of Notification No. 093-BOPEE of 2024 dated 03.09.2024, impugned Provisional Selection list of the candidates of UT of J&K/Ladakh for MBBS/BDS Course 2024 was issued by Respondent No.3, by virtue of which Private Respondent No.5 has been selected for MBBS course under EWS category and accordingly granted admission to the said course at Government Medical College (GMC), Jammu.

4. The specific plea of the petitioner is that in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir, the MBBS cut-off for EWS Male candidates was 404 marks. However, despite scoring the same (404) cut-off marks, he has not been selected for the MBBS course but another candidate named Basit Ahmad Bhat, scoring the same respective marks, i.e., 404, has been selected for the MBBS course, as per the tie-breaking policy of NEET-UG-2024.

5. The specific case of the petitioner is that Private Respondent No. 5 had registered himself under the Resident of Backward Area (RBA) category with the JKBOPEE NEET UG-2023 Counseling in the previous academic year 2023 and his name has been reflected in the Pro