The admission policy for Sportsmen/Sportswomen in medical colleges must balance academic excellence and sports excellence, with weightages given to sportsmen based on their grade certificates, while still requiring them to meet a minimum academic threshold.

M.M.PUNCHHI, J.

1. How do we interlace the competing claims of academic excellence and sports excellence in the field of reservation in favour of Sportsmen/Sportswomen, in the context of admissions in the three State Medical Colleges and two State Dental Colleges as per latest policy of the Punjab Government, is the pressing problem which requires solution at our hand.

2. We have two writ petitions, being, CWP Nos. 10623 and 10855 of 1989, which we dispose of by a common order. Though the respective petitioner in each case is different, the private respondents are common, the Principal, Medical College, Amritsar, being an additional respondent in CWP No. 10855 of 1989. The respective petitioners and the respondents are competitors; for the available seven seats reserved for Sportsmen/Sportswomen out of 350 seats in the five Colleges afore-referred to, being 2 per cent reservation. The contesting parties claim to possess B-Grade Certificates, and in quality of one holding preference over the other. We would not go into the intricate details thereof for the present but straightway go to the declared policy of the State Government with regard to the reservation as such. But before we do that, we shall as a prelude observe that both parties relied on policy letters of the Punjab Government, appended as various annexures to the writ petitions and the prospectus issued by the Guru Nanak Dev University for the academic session starting in the year 1989, obvious of the Punjab Government notification dated April 21, 1989, published in the Gazette (Extraordinary) of the same date, declaring the up to date policy in modification of the earlier policy, on the basis of which the prospectus of the year 1989 was issued by the University. We have on our own put the Photostat copy of the said notification on record for reference. Now the stage is set to examine the competing claims of the parties.

3. To begin with on January 11, 1962, Annexure-P-3 in CWP No. 10855 of 1989, the Chief Secretary to Government, Punjab, notified the Government policy in that regard. It was informed that with a view to encourage sports talent the Government had thought of reserving certain percentage of seats for Sportsmen/Sportswomen for i) admission to technical/medical institution in the State; and ii) recruitment to service under the State, through the Punjab Public Service Commission/Subordinate Services Selection Board. The policy postulated that the Sportsmen shall be graded as follows:

Grade-A: Sportsmen of International standing;

Grade-B: Sportsmen of national standing;

Grade-C: Sportsmen of State s status;

Grade-D: Sportsmen without achieving State s Status.

with regard to the award of marks to Sportsmen candidates, the Punjab Public Service Commission or the Subordinate Services Selection Board/or other bodies responsible for selection were required to adopt the system; of marking, each department fixing a quantum of marks which may not exceed a particular total. The quantum, however, was variable from service to service at the discretion of the recruiting department. The persons concerned were advised to obtain certificate from the Sports Department, which obviously meant that the Sports Department was required to grade appropriately the sportsmen seeking reservation. Later, on May 3, 1983, vide annexure P-4, the Government in reference to the earlier letter dated January 11, 1962, and subsequent instruction issued from time to time in that regard on May 20, 1982, thought of superseding; the later instructions of the year 1982 and decide to grade the certificate in the following descending order of merit :

Grade-A: Sportsmen of international standing;

Grade-B: Sportsmen of national standing;

Grade-C: Sportsmen of State s standing;

Grade-D: Sportsmen; of District standing.

The Government policy also classified sports into popular games and comparatively less popular games. With regard to inter se rating in the same grade a descending order was laid dow