- (1.) The petitioners-Colleges have joined together to complain against the policy brought out by the Government restricting admission to students aspiring to join D.Ed. course only to persons, who had domicile in Haryana and that which did not provide for transfer of unfilled seats belonging to reserved category to general category. Admissions were for the Session 2014-15 and admittedly, from the first counselling, which took place on 15.06.2014 to 8th counselling which had been done in November 2014 and still more than 750 vacancies under reserved categories exist. The petitioners have, therefore, approached this court with principally two prayers: (i) to quash the eligible condition prescribed in the prospectus to the extent that only bona fide residents of Haryana State are eligible for admission; (ii) that there shall be transfer of unfilled seats in reserved category to general category.
(2.) The State would join issues on the petitioners' plea by contending that the restriction of admission only to persons domiciled in Haryana is to ensure that the general candidates belonging to Haryana will not be deprived of doing the D.Ed. course completely, if the admissions were to be granted for candidates outside Haryana as well. The further contention is that the transfer of unfilled seats in reserved category to general category was not being done in the light of policy of the State Government for reservation.
(3.) The contention that if the candidates outside Haryana are brought within the State, the general candidates will have difficulty in securing admission, is falsified by the respondent's own admission that all the vacancies were not filled up in spite of 8th counselling which was completed after nearly 4 months after the first counselling was started in June. It is not merely an issue of exigency. It is parochial and has no place in the scheme of the constitution. Article 15 of the Constitution of India reads thus:- "15. (1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them. (2) .......... (3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children. (4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes. (5) Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30.";