A woman who obtains a divorce decree on the ground of desertion does not cease to be a deserted woman. The decree of divorce merely confirms the fact of desertion and does not improve the position of the woman.

The petitioner who belongs to backward community has filed this writ petition for a Writ of Madamus directing the respondents to publish the merit list of selected candidates for the seats reserved in the category of 'deserted women' and allot one seat to the petitioner for the M.B.B.S. course for the academic year 1994-95, stating that on 3-12-1989 she was married to one C. P. Easwaramoorthy; because of the misbehaviour and cruelty of her husband she could not live with him at the time of her marriage she had completed 10th standard only, and she could not continue her studies after marriage. It is submitted that the petitioner was forcibly driven out of the family from her husband within six months from the date of her marriage. Thereafter she is residing with her parents. After driving her husband used to live with one Baby and all efforts made by the parents and well-wishers of the petitioner for conciliation ended in futile. On the contrary her husband married the said Baby subsequently. The said Baby has even given birth to a female child through her husband on 25-10-1993. Under the circumstance the petitioner pursued her studies further to reconcile herself from the sorrowful family life. She joined the Plus 1 course at P.S.G., G.K.G. Higher Secondary School at Coimbators in the year 1992. In the given circumstances, particularly after a baby was born to the said Baby the second wife of her husband, all hopes of the petitioner of joining her husband became impossible. Hence having no other option but to separate from him, she filed H. M.O. P. No. 2 of 1994 on the file of the Subordinate Judge, Sankagiri for divorce on the ground of desertion. The said Court passed orders on 15-4-1994 granting a decree for divorce by dissolving the marriage dt 3-12-1989 of the petitioner with her husband.

2. The petitioner appeared for the public examination held in the year 1994 and obtained the following marks in the qualifying subjects :-

Physics .. 174

Chemistry .. 185

Botany .. 138

Zoology .. 179

She also appeared in the Entrance Examination held for M.B.B.S. course on 25-6-1994 and 26-6-1994, and scored 39.2 and 32.5 marks in Biology and Chemistry respectively. On the whole the petitioner scored 241.25 out of 300 marks. She applied for the medical course for the academic year 1994-95 under the category of seats reserved for 'deserted women'. In order to apply under the said category the petitioner had to produce a certificate to that effect issued by the Tahsildar of that area. She applied to the Tahsildar to issue a certificate well in time but unfortunately in view of the visit of the Chief Minister to the place, the petitioner could not get necessary certificate from the concerned Tahsildar. However she enclosed copy of the divorce decree mentioned above. Thereafter the Tahsildar conducted enquiry in the village and subsequently issued a certificate dt. 21-7-1994 certifying that the petitioner herein was deserted by her husband and is living separately. This certificate also was forwarded to the respondent and the receipt of the same is also acknowledged.

3. It is further submitted that the Prospectus to the medical course spells out the eligibility criteria for a deserted woman to get a seat reserved in that category. She has satisfied all the conditions. Only four seats were reserved in the said category. In the circumstances the respondents ought to have published the list of selected candidates in the said category. In the year 1993 for the medical course no such list was published. Hence there was reasonable apprehension that the list of selected candidates along with the marks obtained by them would not be published by the respondents for the academic year 1994-95 also. If the list is not published the respondents will select candidates for the medical course for the academic year 1994-95 at their sweet will and fancy as was done for the academic year 1993-94 and thus the selection will be arbitrary and violative of A