- (1.) Writ Petitions questioning admissions to the medical colleges at Srinagar and Jammu appear to have become an annual feature in this Court. In the previous years, there was some justification. It does not appear, to be so this year. In these writ petitions, the selection of candidates for admission to the medical colleges at Srinagar and Jammu as well as the nominations by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir to medical colleges outside the State are in question. On May 24, 1983, the Government Jammu and Kashmir issued an advertisement inviting applications from permanentent residents of Jammu and Kashmir State for admission to the first year MBBS in the medical colleges at Jammu and Srinagar. One of the conditions of eligibility was that a candidate should have passed the "First TDC (Medical Group) examination from Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education with not less than 50% of the total marks in English and Science subjects taken together". There was some relaxation in favour of candidates belonging to the Scheduled Castes, etc., with which we are not now concerned. We are also not concerned in them writ petitions with the reservations, made is favour of various classes. We are only concerned with the seats or places available for open competition. The advertisement expressly mentioned that the candidates would have to appear in a written test of "TDC-Part I Standard comprising of two papers, one paper consisting of the subjects, Physics and Chemistry and the other, Biology and English. It was also mentioned in the advertisement that the candidates would be required to appear at a viva voce examination. On 7th July, 1983, the Government of Jammu and Kashmir Published a notification called the Jammu and Kashmir Government Medical Colleges (Selection of Candidates for Admission to First year MBBS Course) Procedure Order 1983. Paragraph 4 of the order which is relevant is as follows :- "4. Merit :- The inter-se-merit of the candidates shall be determined on the basis of the following :- (i) Written test - 85 Points (ii) Viva voce - 15 points Total - 100 Points The points earmarked for viva-voce will further be sub-divided into the following factors : (a) Aptitude - 8 Points (b) G. K. GI - 7 points Total - 15 Points On 26th August 1983, a Selection Committee was constituted consisting of the Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Public Service Commission as Chairman and two members, namely, the Principals of the two Government Medical Colleges at Srinagar and Jammu. The quorum for a meeting of the Committee was stipulated as the Chairman and one member on the same day by another notification it was directed that the Selection Committee should arrange and conduct the written test and evolve its own procedure far appointing examiners and for the conduct of the examination, etc. The Selection Committee held its first meeting on September 2, 1983 when one of the members, the Principal of the Government Medical College, Srinagar informed the Committee that his daughter was one of the candidates and that it would not be desirable for him to be associated, at any stage, with the written test to be conducted by the Committee and further that he would not like to be present when his daughter was interviewed. The Committee took note of the information and agreed with the suggestion. As the Government had also fixed a quorum for a meeting of the Committee, it was not considered necessary to have a substitute member appointed. Thereafter a detailed procedure was evolved for the written test and interviews. The Chairman was authorised to consult the Chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of School Education and select the required number of examiners and paper-settors. The written test was conducted simultaneously at Jammu and Kashmir on September 22, 1983. The written test was followed by interviews from September 26, 1983 to October 11, 1983. One important factor which requires to be mentioned here is that the marks secured in the written test by the respective candidates was not available to the Selection Committee when the Committee interviewed the candidates. The Committee met again on October 25, 1983 by which time the results of the written test were also available. The Selection Committee proceeded with the task of finalising the selection. The selected candidates were sent individual intimations and on December 3, 1983, a notification was published by the Government of Jammu and Kashmir informing the public that the result of the written test / Viva Voce held for admission to the First year of the MBBS Course for the Medical Colleges of the State was available in the offices of the Principals of the Government Medical Colleges at Jammu and Srinagar. Candidates were also told that marks card would be issued on payment of a fee of Rs. 5/ and that any candidate interested in seeing his / her answer book could do so on payment of Rs. 20/- as fee for each paper. Some of the facts mentioned above were taken by us from the counter-affidavits filed on behalf of the Government of Jammu and Kashmir and were not admitted by the petitioners. We do not however have the slightest doubt about the correctness of these facts, as they are fully supported by contemporaneous official records.
(2.) The petitioners have filed these writ petitions impunging the selection made by the Committee on various grounds. In their petitions, they have indulged in several allegations and insinuations for which there is no basis whatsoever. Shri Anil Dev Singh, learned counsel for some of the petitioners raised three contentions. The first was that the entire selection was vitiated by the presence on the Committee of the father of a candidate. The second contention was that the entire procedure was bad as the marks obtained by the candidates at the qualifying examination (TDC-Part I Medical Group) were not taken into account and not given any weightage whatever. The third contention was that the viva voce test provided for 7 points for general knowledge and general intelligence whereas it would have been more appropriate to test the general knowledge and general intelligence of candidates by holding a written test instead of a viva voce test. Shri Ann Dev Singh also generally submitted that the viva voce test was a mere manoeuvre designed to bring in candidates who had fared badly in the written test Shri A. K. Sen, learned counsel who appeared for some of the other 'petitioners made only one submission and it was that 'the viva voce test had worked in an unreasonable and arbitrary manner, in fact and as a matter of principle. He elaborated the submission by arguing that though the two papers in the written test carried 550 marks, they were reduced to 85 points as against 15 points for the viva voce test. The result. according to him, was that candidates who got a lead of 20-25 marks in the written test had to bow down to candidates who got a lead of 3 or 4 points in the viva voce test as the marks obtained in the written test were reduced to points in the ratio of 550 to 85. Shri Sen also submitted that the questions put to the candidates at the interview were not designed to test either aptitude or general knowledge or general intelligence and for that reason, the selection was vitiated. He suggested that the final results bore eloquent testimony to the injustice done to the minority community in the State.
(3.) We find no substance whatever in any of the submissions made by Shri Anil Dev Singh and Shri A. K. Sen. We may straightway observe that the insinuation that the interviews were so conducted as to do injustice to the minority community appears to us to be uncharitable and impetuous. We find that there are candidates belonging to both the majority and the minority communities among the candidates who were able to secure admission because of the points scored by them in the viva voce test, as also amongst the candidates who failed to secure admission because of their low score in the viva voce test. The inconsiderateness of the allegation is evident from the fact that the marks obtained by the candidates in the written test were not even available to the Selection Committee when they conducted the viva voce test. This circumstance in sufficient to repudiate the broad allegation freely made by Shri Anil Dev Singh that the viva voce test was designed to facilitate the selection of candidates who had fared badly in the written test.;