- (1.) AT the outset it may brought on record that the instant petition was filed by as many as five petitioners. Subsequently, the petitioner Nos. 2 and 4, namely, Maryam Haider and Farha Naz, by two separate applications, applied for withdrawal of the writ petition and, consequently, by order dated 18.04.2012 the writ petition on their behalf was treated as withdrawn. Accordingly, the petition was pressed on behalf of the petitioners 1, 3 and 5 only.
(2.) BRIEFLY stated the relevant facts of the case are that the Aligarh Muslim University (hereinafter referred to as 'University') by a Notification dated 30th September, 2013 invited applications from eligible candidates for admission to M.Phil /Ph.D courses in the University. The notification notified available seats in various departments and faculties for the academic session 2013 -14. Before the date of notification, amendments /additions in the relevant Ordinances were approved by the Vice Chancellor in exercise of powers vested in him under Section 19 (3) of the Aligarh Muslim University Act, 1920 and an office memorandum dated 27.09.2013 to that effect was issued by the office of the Controller of Examination (Admission Section) of the University. The amended regulations, which were applicable since before the date of notification of the seats provided for the admission procedure as follows: - "3. Application for Admission: - (i) Candidates eligible for admission to the M. Phil. / Ph.D. program in more than one Faculty of the University can apply for the same but such candidates will have to fill separate application form for each Faculty. (ii) Candidates eligible for admission to the M. Phil. / Ph.D. program in more than one Department/ Center/ Unit in the same Faculty of the University can apply for admission in only one discipline. (iii) All candidates shall submit the duly filled in application form in the Office of Controller of Examinations on or before the last date announced by the University. (iv) Exemption from appearing in the M.Phil./ Ph.D. written test as per proviso 3.1(ii) -(iii) of chapters XXIV(A) and XXV(B) of the Ordinances (Academic) will be applicable to only those candidates who are eligible for the same on the notified last date of receipt of application form and have attached documentary proof of the same with their application form. 4. Conduct of Admission Test (i) Written Test: An eligible candidate, as per 2 (i) and (ii) of chapters XXIV(A) and XXV(B) of the Ordinances, shall be required to appear in the written test, except those who are exempted, to be conducted by the concerned Faculty/ Department/ Center/ Unit to enroll himself /herself in the M. Phil. /Ph.D. program in a Faculty. (ii) Presentation -cum -Interview: Candidates who qualify the written test and those who are exempted from the written test under Clause 3.1(ii) of the Ordinances will have to appear for a presentation -cum -interview session. Foreign nationals are, however, exempted from both the written as well as oral part of the admission test as per the Clause 3.1 (iii) of the Ordinances. (iii) The COE, in consultation with the respective Deans/ Chairmen/ Director/ Coordinator, shall notify the schedule for the written test and presentation -cum -interview. (iv) The COE shall facilitate the conduct of the admission test, its evaluation, and declaration of the result for each Faculty through a co -coordinator who will be the Dean of the concerned Faculty. It will be the responsibility of the Dean to conduct the written test, presentation -cum -interview, and declaration of the result. (I) Candidates appearing in the written test are permitted to take with them their question paper and the carbon copy of the OMR sheet. 5. Preparation and Evaluation of Admission Test 5.1 Written Test: - (i) The test paper, carrying 100 marks shall be of TWO hours duration and shall have one hundred objective type multiple choice questions (MCQs) carrying one mark each and shall comprise the following two sections with the distribution of marks mentioned against them. Section A English Language : 20 marks General Awareness :20 marks Section B Subject -specific : 60 marks (ii) Section A: The Dean of the concerned Faculty/Coordinator of the Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit (IBU) shall be responsible for setting Section A of the paper with the assistance of five available senior most faculty members. Section A of the paper shall be moderated by the Dean/Coordinator (IBU) along with three available senior most faculty members of the Faculty/IBU, who shall not ordinarily be the paper setters. (iii) Section B: The Chairman of the concerned Department /Coordinator (IBU) shall be responsible for setting Section B of the paper with the assistance of five available senior most faculty members. Section B of the paper, consisting of 60 objective type MCQs, shall cover, as far as possible equitably, all specializations being offered in the Department. Section B of the paper shall be moderated by the Chairman/Coordinator (IBU) along with two available senior most faculty members, who shall not ordinarily be the paper setters. In departments where adequate number of faculty members is not available, the Chairman may use his/ her discretion for setting/ moderation of the paper. (iv) Integration of Sections A and B: Each Dean / Coordinators (IBU) shall coordinate with the COE for getting the moderated paper (Section A and B combined) printed and sealed under his supervision. Further, the Dean/ Coordinator (IBU) shall handover the answer keys (on OMR) to COE for its uploading after the test is over. (v) There will be no negative marking in the evaluation of either section. (vi) Candidates obtaining 45% or more marks in the paper (sections A and B combined) shall be invited for presentation -cum -interview for admission to Ph.D. program and those obtaining 40% or more but less than 45% marks shall be invited for presentation - cum -interview for admission to M. Phil. program. Candidates scoring more than 45% marks may however be invited for presentation -cum -Interview for admission to M. Phil., if they desired so and have indicated this in the application form. (vii) The marks obtained in the written test shall not be considered for the purpose of preparing the overall merit list. 5.2 Presentation -cum -Interview (25 marks for presentation and 50 marks for interview) (i) Presentation -cum -Interview shall be held within 2 -3 weeks of the declaration of the qualifying list as per 5.1(vi). (ii) Each candidate (as per 4(ii)) will give a presentation, not exceeding 15 minutes, on any topic of his/her choice, but related to the subject, and appear for interview before the Research Committee of the Department. (iii) The presentation shall be in the English language, except for those appearing in the Departments of Arabic, Hindi, Modern Indian Languages, Persian, Sanskrit, Urdu, and Theology, in which the presentation shall be made in the respective language or language approved by the concerned CASR on the recommendation of BOS. The interviews, however, shall be held in English language only in all departments. (iv) The Research Committee in each department shall consist of the Chairman and three senior most faculty members of the Department. The Chairman may co -opt additional members for covering fields of specialization, if necessary. 5.3. Overall Merit List and Offer of Admission: (i) For the preparation of overall merit list, 25% weightage shall be given to the marks obtained in the presentation, 50% to the performance in the interview and 25% to the marks obtained by a candidate in his/ her qualifying examinations. In cases where grades are awarded at Master's level, these will be converted into marks. However, foreign nationals shall be considered for admission on the basis of their merit in the qualifying examination only, subject to the approval by the BOS of the synopsis of the proposed research work submitted by them with their application form. (ii) Provisional admission shall be offered to the candidates, selected through the admission test and in accordance with the number of vacancies already declared by the department/ centre/ unit under different specializations, and approved by the Vice - Chancellor. The selected candidates shall be asked to join within a period of one month from the date of the offer made to them. Under exceptional circumstances, an additional one month period may be given to the selected candidates to join the program. (iii) Vacancies, arising out of any candidate's failure to join within the stipulated time, shall be filled from amongst the candidates in the merit list, by the CASR on the recommendation of the BOS prior to last date of admissions notified by the office of the COE. (iv) After getting admission, each student shall prepare and submit his/ her synopsis to the BOS for its approval, subject to the confirmation by the CASR. The CASR concerned shall satisfy itself, among other things, of the suitability of the synopsis. If needed the CASR may modify the synopsis or refer it back to the BOS for modification. If the CASR is satisfied, it shall, subject to confirmation by the Faculty and the Academic Council, approve the synopsis."
(3.) ACCORDING to the admission procedure, an eligible candidate was required to appear in the written test unless exempted. A candidate who qualified the written test, and those who were exempted from the written test, were required to appear for a presentation -cum -interview session. The written test carried 100 marks and was divided in two sections. Section A was in two parts. The first part related to English Language having 20 marks and the second part related to General Awareness having 20 marks. The Section B was of 60 marks and was subject -specific. Candidates obtaining 45 marks or more in written test (Section A and Section B combined) were to be invited for presentation -cum -interview for admission to Ph.D Program and those obtaining 40% or more but less than 45% marks were to be invited for presentation -cum interview for admission to M.Phil Program. It has been specifically provided that the marks obtained in the written test would not be considered for the purpose of preparing overall merit -list. Candidates selected in the written test were required to participate in presentation -cum -interview. The presentation carried 25 marks and 50 marks were for the interview. Presentation was to be made by each candidate on own topic of his/her choice, but related to the subject and a time not exceeding 15 minutes was provided for the purpose and, thereafter, the candidate was required to appear for interview before the Research Committee of the Department concerned. Regulation 5.3 provided that for the preparation of overall merit -list, 25% weightage would be given to the marks obtained in the presentation, 50% would be given to the performance in interview and 25% to the marks obtained by a candidate in his/her qualifying examination. It was provided that where grades were awarded at Master's Level, they were to be converted into marks. Pursuant to the notification, the petitioners 1 and 5 applied for Ph.D Course in the Department of Commerce/ Faculty of Commerce for the academic session 2013 -14 whereas the petitioner No.3 applied for Ph.D Course in the Department of Geology/Faculty of Science for the same academic session. In the Faculty of Commerce, there were 23 seats for M.Phil /Ph.D Program 2013. In the combined merit -list of 59 students, which was prepared, the petitioner No.1 secured 49th rank and the petitioner No.5 secured 31st rank. In the Faculty of Science (Geology), there were 20 students and in the overall merit -list, the petitioner No.3 was placed 22nd rank. As the petitioners were placed lower in the merit -list than the number of seats, the instant petition has been filed challenging the Regulations 5.1(vii), 5.2 and 5.3 (i) as also the entire select -list with a prayer that the respondent -University be directed to conduct the selection proceedings afresh for M.Phil /Ph.D. Course 2013 -14.;