JUDGMENT

MANMOHAN, ACJ : (ORAL)

CM APPL. 17357/2024(for exemption)

Allowed, subject to all just exceptions.

Accordingly, the present application stands disposed of.

LPA 232/2024

1. The present appeal filed under Clause X of the Letters Patent of the then High Court of Judicature at Lahore, which stands extended to the High Court of Delhi, impugns the judgment dated 2nd February, 2024 (‘impugned judgment’), wherein the Respondent’s admission in All India Institute of Medical Sciences (‘AIIMS’), Guwahati has been confirmed and the Appellant’s prospectus for Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (‘INI-CET’) for the January, 2024 session, has been declared as ex-facie arbitrary, to the extent it prescribed a particular period for issuance of OBC-NCL certificates (06th November, 2022 – 05th November, 2023) and a deadline for submission of the same. Accordingly, the W.P. (C) 15514/2023 (‘writ petition’) filed by the Respondent herein against the Appellant herein was allowed.

2. The facts of the case are that AIIMS i.e., the Appellant herein issued a prospectus on 15th September, 2023 thereby inviting applications towards the INI-CET exam leading to admission in AIIMS, New Delhi, JIPMER- Puducherry, NIMHANS-Bengaluru, PGIMER-Chandigarh, SCTIMST- Trivandrum and other AIIMS located in the different parts of the country in postgraduate courses [MD, MS, DM (6 years), MCh (6 years) & MDS] for January, 2024 session.

2.1 As per Note-2 of the said prospectus, an applicant seeking reservation benefits available for Other Backward Castes (‘OBC’) was mandatorily required to possess the requisite valid certificates in the prescribed format. In addition, it was necessary that the OBC-NCL (Non-creamy layer) certificate should have been issued between 6th November, 2022 and 5th November, 2023, both dates inclusive. The relevant part of note 2 read as under:

“Note 2. Applicants seeking reservation/relaxation benefits available for SC/ST/OBC/EWS/PwBD must ensure that they are entitled to such reservation/relaxation. They should be in possession of all the requisite valid certificates in the prescribed format in support of their claim. The OBC(-NCL) certificates should have been issued between period as mentioned in Important Dates.

The EWS certificate must be valid as mentioned in Important Dates The SC/ST/OBC(NCL)/EWS/PwBD certificates must be uploaded with online registration on or before date of examination as mentioned in the Important dates/Notice published. The applicants will be required to upload appropriate valid certificates and, therefore must take utmost care to ensure that required valid certificates are uploaded. These uploaded certificates may be preliminarily scrutinized during the process of seat allocation for postgraduate courses, for determination of veracity of claim by the candidates for reservation/relaxation as applicable, however this preliminary scrutiny shall be subject to production and verification of original documents at the time of reporting/joining for allocated postgraduate seat and candidature is liable to be cancelled in case of discrepancies of any kind detected. Allocation of seat doesn’t guarantee acceptance of eligibility which is always provisional.”

(Emphasis supplied)

Important dates

(Emphasis supplied)

2.2 The Respondent registered for the INI-CET exam and submitted his application form on 02nd October, 2023 along with his OBC-NCL certificate dated 2nd October, 2022. The Respondent was issued an admit card for the INI-CET exam and the Respondent was permitted to appear and write the exam held on 05th November, 2023.

2.3 The result for the sai