STATE OF M.P. AND ANR. v. KUMARI NIVEDITA JAIN AND ORS

Citation: [1982] 1 S.C.R. 759

Court: Supreme Court of India

Bench: Y.V. CHANDRACHUD, A. VARADARAJAN, AMARENDRA NATH SEN

Case summary

Kacker that Regulation II of the Council which relates to selection of candidates has been made for carrying out the purposes of the Act and selection of the right type of students for maintaining proper standard of medical education comes clearly within the F purview and...

Judgment text

759 A J STATE OF M. P. AND ANR. v. KUMAR! NJVEDITA JAIN AND ORS. 8 September 22, 198/ l [ Y. V. CHANDRACHUD, C. J.. A. VARADARAJAN AND r ; AMARENDRA NATH SeN, JJ. J c Rightofopportunityfor admission to medical co/l~gr1-Rule:sfor A. dmlssiorr /No theMtdical, Dentistry and . A. yurvedic College:~ lrr Madhya Prade:~h prescribing Rltttion purely on merit from amongst those who have qualified In the written tmrinQtiGr. -Ftstfi'Otion ofstOI$ for Scheduled Castes afld Sclreduled Tribe3 to tltttzttnt ofIS% for each caugory subject to a provlslo! lln Rule 9 to the effect Pot1111/illtd vacancie11 should go to candidates available 'on the combined Merit 0 Usi-Statt Governmmt by on executive ordtrdated 9th September, 1980compte· tr/1rtlaxing the €0ndilfa11S relating to the minimum qualification marlufor :selectioll to medicalcollegu In farour of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribu- Wittthtr tht exuutht order offMds . A.

rticlu 14 and 15 of the Co11StitUJiort and Ordillanct 54ofthe C/nlrtulty ofJabo/pur, Rrgulation 2 ofthe Medical Co~~IrCilof ladiJJrtadwlth:section 19ofthe Indian Medical Council Act, /956. - E In exercise or its executive power the State Government of Madbya Pndt$h made by its order dated 2nd April, 1980 the Rules for admission into the Medical, Dentistal and Ayurvedic Colleges in Madhya Pradesh. By and on~tr Rule 7 tho State Government has reserved 15% orseats for each or tho nttaorics or Scheduled Cutes and Scheduled Tribes candidales. Rule 20 lays down that ~tlection or candidutu from nmons" those who have qualified in the rumination ihall be made strictly on merit as disclosed by total number of F marks obtained by candidates in the pre-medical e:urnination. Rule 20 further :o;•~n that minimum qualifying marks for admission to Medical Colleges shall 0 C • /.

ln theaur~~ate and 33% In each subject respectively; but for Schedul~d · ~~~t~ and Scheduled Tribes candidates tbe minimum qualifying marks shall be 10 th r. the anre~ate and 30% in each ,ubject. Note (ii) below Rulo 20 empowc~ d:k~ovenun~nt to arant in case ofcandidate belont~ing to the :a~egori. ::s of~~o· Ut1tetand ~hcdult:d Tribes special relaxation In tho mmtmum quultfytog G marks to the · · d be f Qndl . extent constd~red n. :ceuory in the ev. :nt of the rcquu-e num r o •lo tdatet JU tbcse two categories not being available. Rule 9 contains a provi. an:. ;: the tlYect that In case seuts rc$Crvod for categories ofScheduled Castes h•ilabbcdultd Tribes remain vaCllnt, theso seats will be filled up by ~ndidates MeditaJlt00 tho combined merit Jist. Tho total number of seats Ill all the •M Scbe~o:It-aet beloa 720 in number, 108 aeats ca. :h for tho S;;heduled Castes H ucd Tribes became re! erved under Rulo 7. 760 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1982] 1 s. c. R.

For admission to the Medical Colleges for the academic year l980-Sl, there were 9400 candidates in all, of which f23 candidates were from Scheduled Castes I " and 145 candidates were from Scheduled Tribes. On the result of the pre-medical examination only 18 seats in tl:e category of Scheduled Castes and 2 scats in the category of Scheduled T 1ites cculd te f:lled up because the other candidates of these categories did not ~ccure the qualifying marks prescribed by Rule 20. The Selection Board in exercise of the pov. er under note (i) to Rule 20 made a B rc)a)(ati(\n cf 5% in terms thereof and thereafter 7 more candidates in thecate- I! OJY of Scheduled Castes and or:e reme in the category of Scheduled Tribes got J admitted, Jc:aving a balance of 83 seats under Scheduled Castes' quota, and 105 seats under th: Sdedulcd T1ibcs quota to te filfed as provided for under Rule 9.

But the State Government, by its order dated 9th September, 1980 removed the condition relating to minimum qualifying marks in favour of the candidates from amongst Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. c The respondent belonging to the general category who obtained the minirr. um qualifying rrarks but could not ~t(me aemission as other candidates for the general seats had obtained marls hil! her than she had oblained in the premedi. ca\ examination for filling up the vacancies available in the general category, would have been in a position to secure admission to the Medical College but for the complete relaxation granted by the impugned order without complying with the provisions of Rule 9. She, therefore, filed a writ petitionin the High D Court on the grounds, inter alia, (1) that the order of the Government contravenes Regulat;on II of the M~dical Council of India and would hit Section 19 of the lndian Medical Cetncil Act, 19:6, eJ ional conduct for medkal practitioners.

The scheme or the Act aprcar1 to be that the Medical Council of Jndia Is to be set up in tho maooer provided f . '• in tbe Act and the Medical Council will maintain 11 proper m. :dical ro:gist~r, . , v. ill prC'SCTibe minimum 5tandarda of medico! education required (l)t 11ranllnJ r«e¥lJ~d mc:dfcal quaJificatioos, WiJI a)so prescribe •tandard~ Of po~t·graJilate nltdi~al education and will further tellulatc the standard or prof~ssional condtlloi G awd etiquette and code of ethie~ for mcdiclll pr. 1ctitioners. The Act fllrtb~ envil>B@tS Ihilt if it appear• to 1he Council that the courses of stu c or other Institutions affihated w t u ' " '1 t~ I •lit IHV(t. :! rvinJ candidates are admitted into medical colleges, the standard of medical education will go down, undeserving candidates admitted to medical colleges would not be able to pass out and qualify as doctors and E there may be many drop-outs and doctors not pr0p! rly qtUWied will prove a danger to society, appears to be untenable.

It fails to notice that there is no relaxation in the standard of medical education or curriculum of studies in medical colleges for those candiates after their admission to the college and the standard of examination and the curriculum remains the same for all. There F may be drop-outs and many of these candidates may not qualify. There may also be such failures and drop-outs in the case of other candidates than those belonging to these categories. It is eminently desirable that some kind of minimum standard for selection for admission to medical colleges apart from eligibility should be there. It h~s been represented to us by the Counsel for the State that the G State has, in fact, prescribed such a minimum standard for selection of even the candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into medical collr ges.

The only other ground that was urged in support of the case H of the writ petitioners that the order in question is illegal and invalid, is that the order violates Ordinance 54 of the University of 788 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (1982) 1 S. C. R. A Jabalpur. No such ground has been taken in the writ petition. ; Though the High Court has considered this argument. the High Court does not appear to have come to any definite finding on this question. This question, in the instant case, cannot be said to be a question of pure law. In the affidavit which has been filed on behalf of the University, it has been stated that the 8 Ordinance 54 has not been adhered to. In the absence of any plea being taken in the writ pelition, we are of the opinion that the respondent is not entitled to urge this point and rely on any alleged contravention of Ordinance 54 of Jabalpur University.

In the result the order in question is not, therefore, liable to c be struck down as being violative of Regulation II or of Art. 15 of the Constitution. The appeal. therefore, succeeds. The Judgment and Order passed by the High Court are hereby set aside and the writ petition is dismissed. There will, however, be no order as to costs. Though this appeal succeeds, yet in our opinion, justice D requires that the respondent Nivedita Jain who has already been admitted to the Medical College on the basis of interim order passed by the Court and has been prosecuting her studies should be allowed to continue her studies and to continue to be student of the Medical College where she is already studying. She is otherwise a qualified candidate and eligible for admission into the medical E course which she is now undergoing and the cause of justice does not require that her studies should be interrupted and her career should not be put in jeopardy.

We, therefore, direct the authorities concerned to treat the student Nivedita Jain as a regular student of the college where she has been admitted and to allow her to continue her studies. F S. R. Appeals allowed. •