- (1.) This writ petition, presented before this Court on September 24, 2014, is at the instance of a daughter-father duo. The first petitioner (hereafter Sweta) had taken the All India Pre-Medical/Pre-Dental Entrance Test, 2014 (hereafter the "AIPMT 2014"). Having obtained 415 marks, Sweta ranked 19309. The writ petition primarily concerns Sweta's right of admission in an institution imparting medical education, availing the Employees State Insurance Corporation Management Quota (hereafter the quota).
(2.) An admission notice was issued by the Employees State Insurance Corporation (hereafter the ESIC) on August 13, 2014 inviting applications for admission of wards of insured persons in undergraduate course (MBBS) in ESIC Medical Colleges for the academic session 2014-2015 as per admission policy and procedure approved by the Central Government.
(3.) Incidentally, the second petitioner (hereafter Dr. Singh) is the holder of an ESIC card and claims to be entitled to benefits flowing from schemes introduced by the Central Government in favour of such holders. In terms of such notice, the ESIC Medical College at Joka, Kolkata had an intake capacity of 52 seats of which 26, 08, 04 and 14 were reserved for General, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and OBC candidates respectively. The mechanism for filling up of the quota reads as follows: "Mechanism for filling up of ESIC Management Quota Y Available seats of 'ESIC Management Quota' in various States will be pooled on 'All India Basis' and allotted, amongst the wards of Insured persons (IPs). Y The 'guiding principles' for filling up of ESIC Management Quota will be as under:- X The ESIC Management Quota seats will be filled on merit cum preference basis. X Reservation policy of Central Government for SC/ST/OBC/PH etc. will be followed for allotment of seats. X Candidates seeking admission under 'ESIC Management Quota' will have to fulfill the following eligibility criteria: Q Minimum eligibility criteria for admission will be as per MCI regulations. Q The selection and admission to MBBS seats in any Medical Institution recognized for running MBBS Courses as per Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 is subject to fulfilling the admission criteria, eligibility, medical fitness and such other criteria as may be prescribed by the Universities etc. Q In event of any difference in criteria of MCI and Affiliating University etc., the higher criteria will prevail. Q Applicants are advised to refer to the websites of the Affiliating Universities, i.e. Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS) for ESIC colleges in Karnataka; West Bengal University of Health Sciences (WBUHS) for ESIC colleges in West Bengal and The Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University (TNMGRMU) for ESIC colleges in Tamil Nadu, for further information. Q Application must be accompanied by 'Ward of Insured Person' Certificate, issued by concerned Regional Director/SRO I/C. [Annexure II] X Candidates will be allotted seats, based on their category and merit cum preference of Institution, through a centralized counseling to be conducted by ESIC in Delhi for the ESIC Management Quota as per schedule provided. X The venue and other details for the counseling will be posted on the website in due course. Candidates are requested to check the web-site regularly for further details." (bold font, underlining, italics in original);