- (1.) The petitioner had filled in an online application for consideration for admission into MBBS Course, having qualified in AIPMT 2014. Her application was in response to a brochure that set down the eligibility criteria that contain an important note that read as follows:- "The candidates should have passed 12th standard examination (qualifying examination) from schools/colleges recognized by the Chandigarh Administration and situated in the Union Territory of Chandigarh, as regular student of the said school/college. Important Note: This condition is waived off in respect of wards of serving defence personnel/ex-servicemen vide letter No. 19/1/3-IH(3)-2007/18322 dated 14.9.2007." The petitioner's claim that she was born and brought up in Chandigarh, having studied upto 10th Class and took her 12th class from a school at Mohali in Punjab State. She had given preference to residential and qualification as Punjab and Chandigarh in that order and in the results, which was declared on 18.6.2014, she was not declared as eligible for admission. By applying the clause regarding eligibility set out, the petitioner brought a challenge to the admission criteria requiring a person who have passed 12th standard examination at Chandigarh from a school recognized by the Chandigarh Administration and situate in the UT Chandigarh. Since she had passed 12th class from Mohali, she was taken up as not duly fulfilling the eligibility criteria extracted above.
(2.) At the time when argument was brought on the issue raised by her in the writ petition, it was made known to the Court on 5.9.2014 that there were two vacancies in the Central Pool quota and one in All India quota and if the vacancies were not filled up, they were likely to be transferred to the State quota on 5.9.2014. She had been ranked 40 in the order of merit and I had, therefore, observed that in the likelihood of transfer from Central Pool quota or All India quota to State quota, a seat would be reserved for her for consideration. I had also observed that in such an event, there was no necessity to consider whether the policy laid down, restricting the admission only to a person who had studied 12th standard, was required to be considered.
(3.) The subsequent events have made it necessary to take the issue of the relevance of the policy criteria as well. Since there is a person lower in the order of merit to the petitioner but who has the requisite eligibility of having passed in 12th standard, who competes for the vacancy that arises by the transferred seat from the Central Pool, the matter is brought up for consideration whether the petitioner would obtain the benefit of consideration in the light of the validity or otherwise to the policy.;