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IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH
G.S. SANDHAWALIA, J.
Sardar Patel Medical Institute of Nursing and Hospital – Petitioner
Versus
State of Punjab and Another – Respondents
Civil Writ Petition No. 21075 of 2015
Decided On : 04-08-2016
Examination Forms - ANM Course - Punjab Nurses Registration Council Act, 1940, Section 10 - The court discussed the provisions of the Punjab Nurses Registration Council Act, 1940, particularly Section 10, which pertains to the acceptance of examination forms and the duties of the council. The court highlighted the duty of the council to act upon examination forms submitted and emphasized that the council's actions were unjustified.
Fact of the Case:
The petitioner-institute sought direction for the acceptance of examination forms of 50 students of the ANM Course of 2014-15 batch. The students were provisionally allowed to appear in the examination subject to the final decision of the writ petition. The institute claimed that it had submitted the admission forms and fees, but the council disputed this and refused to accept the examination fee, leading to the students being denied the opportunity to sit for the examination.
Finding of the Court:
The court found that the respondent-council did not act upon the examination forms submitted by the petitioner-institute, leading to unjust denial of the students' right to give the examination. The court held that the council's actions were unjustified and ordered the result of the students to be declared, their admission to be regularized, and for them to be allowed to sit for further examinations.
Issues: The main issue was whether the respondent-council unjustly denied the students the opportunity to sit for the examination by not acting upon the examination forms submitted by the petitioner-institute.
Ratio Decidendi: The court's decision was based on the finding that the respondent-council failed to fulfill its duty to act upon the examination forms submitted by the petitioner-institute, leading to the unjust denial of the students' right to give the examination.
Final Decision: The present writ petition was allowed, and the interim order was made absolute. The result of the students was to be declared forthwith, their admission regularized, and they were to be allowed to sit for further examinations and complete their studies.
G.S. Sandhawalia, J.
1. The petitioner-institute seeks direction for acceptance of examination forms of 50 students of the ANM Course of 2014-15 batch.
2. Vide order dated 21.10.2015, the said students were provisionally allowed to appear in the examination which was to be held from 26.10.2015 subject to final decision of the writ petition and with the condition that the petitioner-institute would redeposit the examination fee of Rs. 50,000/-.
3. It is not disputed that in pursuance of the said interim order, the said students have given the examinations.
4. The case of the petitioner-institute is that permission had been granted by respondent No. 2-council on 19.8.2014 (Annexure P/1) to admit 60 students for GNM Course and 50 students for ANM Course. In the present case the dispute is concerned only for the batch of ANM Course and the list of 50 students has been appended as Annexure P/2. Out of which it is stated that 9 students were recipients of scholarship of the State Government on account of belonging to the reserved category. The said students have also received a sum of Rs. 1,39,428/- as post-matric scholarship from the Government (Annexure P/6).
5. The petitioner-institute deposited a sum of Rs. 1,10,000/- as admission fee with the respondent-council through draft dated 15.10.2014 (Annexure P/3) vide letter dated 30.11.2014 (Annexure P/4). It is pertinent to mention that in the said letter a specific averment is made that admission forms of GNM and ANM students for the session 2014 were being submitted along with draft in question. It is not disputed that the draft had been duly received as per signature of one Smt. Sudharshan Kumari who was the then Superintendent with the Nursing Council as per affidavit of Smt. Surjit Kaur, Registrar, Punjab Nurses Registration Council, Chandigarh dated 24.5.2016 now filed. Petitioner also appended a receipt dated 4.12.2014 (Annexure P/5) in which the draft number has also been mentioned.
6. It is further case of the petitioner-institute that it went to deposit a consolidated draft of Rs. 1,76,000/- on account of the examination fee on 20.7.2015 after a period of nine months but respondent-council refused to receive the same on the ground that it did not have the details of 50 students of ANM Course. Resultantly, another draft of Rs. 1,23,900/- dated 21.7.2015 (Annexure P/8) was submitted as examination fee for the students of GNM Course. The last date for depositing the examination fee was 30.9.2015 (Annexure P/9) and when the said students of ANM Course were not being allowed to sit in the examination, the petitioner-institute has approached this Court.
7. The plea taken is that the admission forms were lost by the respondent-council and therefore, the students of the petitioner-institute were suffering.
8. The defence of the respondent-council is that the petitioner-institute never submitted admission forms of 50 students of ANM Course. Accordingly, it was ordered that the fee be returned as the forms were not available on 17.7.2015. The cheque for Rs. 50,000/- was prepared on 1.10.2015 on account of refund of examination fees of 50 students. It was accordingly pleaded that in view of the petitioner-institute did not submit the admission forms and the list of students were not uploaded and enquiry was still going on. List of all the students had been uploaded in April, 2015 and the names of these students were not put on the official website as the admission forms of these students were not received.
9. Regarding specific averment that admission forms of the said students had been lost, it was averred that there was no lapse on the part of the respondent-council and list of eligible students throughout the State were already uploaded.
10. Vide order dated 20.5.2015 by this Court, it was directed that the Council would file an affidavit as to how the examination forms are accepted and name of the official who put the signature on letter dated 30.11.2014.
11. As noticed it has now
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