ANIL MAHAJAN Vs. STATE

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Pursuant to a notice issued by its Principal on 30-5-1977, the petitioner along with some others applied for being admitted to M.B.B.S. Course in Govt. Medical College, Jammu, as according to him, he fulfilled all the qualifications for admission prescribed in the said notice. The selection was to be made in terms of Govt. Order No. 1898-GD of 1973, dated 9-7-1973, according to which, 50% of the total seats were to be filled upon the basis of open merit in accordance with the criteria to be adopted by the concerned Selection Committee constituted by the Government for the purpose. The petitioner sought admision in this category, but was rejected, even though according to him, he was far superior to respondents 3 to 11 in merit, who were granted admission by the Selection Committee. He has, on a number of grounds, prayed for a twofold relief : one, that the selection of respondents 3 to 11 be quashed, and two, that he be admitted to the said course. It is not necessary to state herein all those grounds, as the grounds which were eventually pressed during arguments are only these:

(2.) While admitting that the petitioner fulfilled all the qualifications for seeking admission in terms of notice dated 30-5-1977, the respondents have resisted the petition inter alia on the grounds: that the criteria laid down by the Selection Committee were made known to all before interviewing the candidates; that the criteria were strictly followed in all the cases, and respondents 3 to 11 were found supe-rior in overall merit to the petitioner, that even if there was any violation of Govt. Order No. 1898-GD of 1973, it did not give any cause of action to the petitioner to file the petition as the Government Order had no statutory force and was merely an administrative order declaring the policy of the Government in regard to admission to educational institutions, which did not create any right in favour of the petitioner; and that no fundamental right of the petitioner had been taken away by not selecting him.

(3.) The petition was initially heard by a Division Bench. A preliminary objection was taken before it that Govt. Order No. 1898-GD of 1973 being merely administrative in character, it did not create any right in favour of the petitioner, and consequently the petitioner had no cause of action to file the petition on account of its alleged infraction. In support of the contention, reliance was strongly placed upon a Bench decision of this Court in Rattan Singh v. Hon'ble Chief Minister, Writ Petn. No. 138 of 1977 decided on 17-121977. The Division Bench, being of the opinion that the view taken by this Court in Rattan Singh's case (supra) was open to question, the petition as a whole has been placed before this Bench for its disposal on merits.