Mohan, J. - (1.) Leave granted.
(2.) The first appellant is the State of Uttar Pradesh. It issued an Order No.2683 / Section - 14 / Five-4 / 84 dated 13-4-1993 in exercise of the powers under sub-section(5) of Sec. 28 of the U.P. Universities Act, 1973 (hereinafter referred to as 'the Act'). By this order, the Government laid down the policy and procedure to be followed in cases of migration or transfer of students studying in Bachelor of Dental Surgery Course (B.D.S. in short) to and from Dental Faculty of the King George Medical College, Lucknow. The same is as follows: "(1) Migration or transfer shall be allowed only within three months of passing the first professional examination. (2) During any one year a maximum of five per cent students of the intake capacity of the Dental Faculty of the King George's Medical College, Lucknow may be allowed to migrate or transfer to and from an authority or institution subject to a maximum of five students in such year: Provided that no seat shall be created in the Dental Faculty of the King George's Medical College, Lucknow as a result of migration or transfer. (3) Migration or transfer under paragraph (2) shall be allowed in the following order: (a) Students selected through All India Entrance Examination for admission to Undergraduate Medical / Dental course conducted by Central Board of Secondary Education and studying in any authority or institution outside the State of Uttar Pradesh. (b) Student selected through competitive examination and studying in any University or institution outside the State of Uttar Pradesh. (c) B.D.S. students other than those specified in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) studying in any authority or institution outside the State of Uttar Pradesh. (4) Application for migration or transfer shall be made in writing addressed to the Director, Medical Education and Training, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow through the principal of the concerned authority or Institution. (5) Subject to the policy and guidelines laid down in paragraphs (1), (2) and (3), the Director, Medical Education and Training, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow shall decide the applications for migration or transfer strictly on merit to be determined on the basis of marks obtained in the first professional examination. The decision of the Director, shall be final and binding. Explanation - In this order the expression "or Institution" means an authority or Institution in India, the dental qualifications granted by which are included in Part I of the Schedule to the Dentists Act, 1948. By Order, Atul Chaturvedi, Secretary, Medical Education."'
(3.) The respondents are students of B.D.S. Course pursuing their study outside the State of U.P. Praveen Kumar Sharma is a student of Budha Institute of Dental Science and Hospital, Gandhi Nagar, Kauberbagh, Patna. That College is recognised by the Dental Council of India. The other respondents Manoj Kumar Srivastava, Ajay Gupta, Rachna Batra, Satvinder Singh Kalra and Rajat Mehrotra are students of Budha Institute of Dental Science and Hospital, Patna which is also a recognised college. Vijay Pandey is a student of Ramarrao Adik Educational Societies, Dental Narul, New Bombay. Sharat Chandra Pandey is a student of College of Dental Surgery, Manipal. Sharat Chandra Pandey applied for transfer from the Dental College, Manipal to the Dental Faculty of King George Medical College, Lucknow, in the third year course of the B.D.S. on November 12,1992. That transfer was not ordered. As a result, Sharad Chandra Pandey continued his study at Manipal, completed his third year and went to the fourth year of study.;