tition Nos
5600 5601 5615 5689 5697 and 6283 63071980
Under Article 32 of the Constitution Soli J Sorabjee ON Tikku EC Aggarwala ML Bhatt R Satish and VK Pandita for the Petitioners in WPs
5600 015615  5689 9780
M K Ramamurthy Miss R Vaigai Joginder Singh and J Ramamurty for the Petitioners in WPs
6283 630780
SN Kacker and Altaf Ahmed for the Respondents in all the Writ Petitions
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by PATHAK J
The petitioner challenges the admission of a number of candidates to the MBBS course in the Government Medical College Srinagar for the session 1980 81
The petitioner who had also applied for admission was denied it
She contends that the criteria adopted in granting admission is discriminatory unreasonable and void
The Principal Government Medical College Srinagar invited applications by 3rd April 1980 for admission to the MBBS course for the session 1980 81 and the notice specified the qualifying examinations of the Board of Secondary Education Kashmir or any other equivalent Board or University which constituted the basis of eligibility
The manner and procedure governing the eligibility for admission had been set forth in a Government order 37 of 3rd April 1978 which laid down that a Selection Committee constituted by the Government would determine the inter se merit of eligible candidates on the basis of an interview for judging their a physical fitness b personality c aptitude d general knowledge and e general intelligence
This Government order was modified by a subsequent Government order dated 23rd June 1980 and in the result eligible candidates were now required to appear not only in the viva voce examination but also in an objective test
These two tests along with merit in the qualifying examination of the Board or University constituted the three elements which together combined to form a basis for Selection
The qualifying examination carried 35 marks the objective test was allotted 35 marks and the viva voce examination was assigned 30 marks
Besides the examination base constituted by the aforesaid three criteria the selection was also determined by a distribution of the seats into three distinct divisions
Of the total number of seats 50 were earmarked for being filled on the basis of open merit 25 were reserved for candidates from Scheduled Castes and other reserved categories one of which was broadly described as socially and educationally backward classes and included candidates from a areas adjoining actual line of control and b area known as bad pockets including Ladhak
After selection had been made as above the remaining 25 of the seats were to be filled on the basis of inter se merit to ensure rectification of imbalance in the admission for the State if any so as to give equitable and uniform treatment to those parts
It was also recited that in case there was no visible imbalance the seats earmarked under that head were to be distributed among further open merit candidates
On 27th June 1974 the percentage of seats reserved for the different categories was refixed so that 60 of the seats were now earmarked for admission on the basis of open merit 20 for distribution among candidates from the Scheduled Castes and other reserved categories including socially and educationally backward classes and the remaining 20 of the seats were earmarked for ensuring rectification of imbalances
Still another order dated 21st April 1976 reduced the reservation for removing regional imbalances from 20 to 18
The selection of candidates for admission to the Government Medical College Jammu for the academic year 1979 80 was challenged in this Court in Nishi Maghu vs State of Jammu and Kashmir1 38 and the Court held that the classification made for rectification of regional imbalance without identifying the areas suffering from imbalance was vague and the selections made under that head were accordingly invalid
The Court directed that the seats reserved under that head should be added to the quota of seats earmarked for selection on the basis of merit and filled accordingly
Thereafter in an attempt to remove the deficiency pointed out by this Court in Nishi Maghu supra the State Government published Notification No 41 GR of 1980 dated 24th September 1980 purporting to identify certain villages as socially and educationally backward for applying the principle of rectification of imbalance in different parts of the State
A long schedule covering over 60 pages of the record before us was annexed and listed some hundreds of villages
About the same time a Government order was issued fixing 17 of the seats in the MBBS course of the medical colleges of the State as the admission quota for the purpose of rectification of imbalances
 From 14th to 17th July 1980 as many as 660 candidates were interviewed by a Committee at Srinagar by way of viva voce examination
On 21st July 1980 the State Government issued a directive that a total list of 125 candidates be prepared against all the seats of the two Government Medical Colleges at Srinagar and at Jammu
A Selection List was finalised taking into account the reservations made for various categories and classes by the different Government orders and was published on 29th September 1980 and the names of 75 candidates were announced for admission to the MBBS course to the Government Medical College Srinagar
The principal contention of Mr Soli Sorabjee appearing for the petitioner in Writ Petition No 5600 of 1980 is that notwith standing this brave attempt to meet the constitutional requirement indicated in Nishi Maghu supra the State Government has failed in its purpose
It is urged that there was no material before the State Government affording a pertinent basis for classifying these villages
It is pointed out that almost whole tehsils of different districts have been identified as socially and educationally backward bad pockets  and areas belonging to the line of actual control have been included and in the result with more than 95 per cent of the villages classified as socially and educationally backward the inference must be that almost all 39 of Kashmir Division calls for a reservation quota
It is asserted that a portion of Srinagar city which includes Sangin Darwaza and Bhagwanpure has also been identified as socially and educationally backward
To that class have also been added towns where Notified Area Committees exist
The submission is that the classification is wholly arbitrary and without any foundation to sustain it
The mere circumstance it is urged that the classification is defined on the basis of villages without anything more demonstrates its unconstitutional character
The case of the State Government is that the classification fully satisfies the criterion social and educational backwardness
In proof of the assertion it is pointed out that the present selection shows that candidates from areas not included in this classified category have taken 66 seats out of 75 on the basis of open merit
It is conceded that a large number of villages have been included in the classification but it is pointed out that the greater bulk of the population resides in the two cities of Srinagar and Jammu alone and would be equivalent to the population of hundreds of villages taken together
The classification is supported by the consideration that in the nature of things the inhabitants of the rural areas are socially and educationally backward
It is urged that merely because some of the villages are administered by Notified Area Committees does not remove the stigma of backwardness
It is admitted that two reports popularly described as the Anand Committee report and the Sikri Commission report are under consideration by the Government but it is said as a comprehensive appreciation of the situation disclosed by the two reports of all the aspects of social and educational backwardness in the State has not been made yet the Government has proceeded in its own wisdom to identify the areas suffering from regional imbalance
We are of opinion that the classification attempted by the State Government by its order dated 24th September 1980 suffers from the vice of arbitrariness and must be declared invalid
There is no intelligible data before us for sustaining the classification
No doubt the State Government has acted in its own wisdom but the material to which that wisdom was applied has not been disclosed at all
The fact by itself that some hundreds of villages have been brought within the classification is of no assistance whatever
Over six years ago this Court in State of UP vs Pradip Tandon1 ruled that in the matter of admission of students to medical colleges 40 a reservation in favour of candidates on the ground that they hailed from rural areas was unconstitutional
The Court repelled the argument that it was necessary to reserve seats for candidates from rural areas because they were handicapped in the matter of education
It also rejected the plea that as the number of marks obtained by candidates from rural areas in the qualifying test were much lower than the marks obtained by the general candidates that was an indication of the former s educational backwardness
Ray CJ speaking for the Court observed The reservation for rural areas cannot be sustained on the ground that the rural areas represent socially and educationally backward classes of citizens
This reservation appears to be made for the majority population of the State 80 per cent of the population of the State cannot be a homogeneous class
Poverty in rural areas cannot be the basis of classification to support reservation for rural areas
 The criterion adopted by the State Government cannot be accepted unless supported by other relevant considerations
That a comprehensive understanding of regional imbalances from the Anand Committee report and the Sikri Commission report has not been possible yet affords no justification for an arbitrary classification
We are not satisfied that the State Government has succeeded in bringing the case within Article 15 4 of the Constitution
The material before us is woefully inadequate and fails to sufficiently support the validity of the classification
We are of opinion that the order of the State Government dated 24th September 1980 must be declared invalid
The next contention on behalf of the petitioner is that the allocation to the viva voce test of 30 per cent of the total marks is patently unreasonable and arbitrary
Our attention has been drawn to the observations of this Court in Ajay Hasia vs Khalid Mujib1 where an allocation of more than 15 per cent of the total marks for the oral interview was regarded as arbitrary and unreasonable and liable to be struck down as constitutionally invalid
It seems to us that the State Government would have done well to apply its mind seriously to the evaluation ratio between the three criteria adopted for admission
When the Government order of 23rd June 1980 dividing the total marks between the three criteria was issued there 41 was ample evidence of the principle and practice adopted by examining bodies of high repute and status in the country
The marks ratio adopted by the Union Public Service Commission provided wise example
Besides almost 10 years before this Court in A Peeriakaruppan etc
vs State of Tamil Nadu  Ors had expressed its disapproval of the ear marking of 75 marks for the interview test out of 275 marks
And before the selection process was taken in the present case this Court had already observed in Nishi Maghu supra that reserving 50 marks for the interview out of a total of 150 marks appeared excessive especially when the time spent was not more than 4 minutes on each candidate
This precisely is what happened here because on the case of the State Government itself the average time devoted to the oral interview of each candidate was 4 minutes
However we are reluctant to interfere on this ground because a clear pronouncement that an allocation of more than 15 of the total marks to the viva voce examination would result in constitutional invalidity has been made only recently in Ajay Hasia supra by this Court and that was after the selection process in the present case had already been taken
We would prefer to impress on the State Government that there is need to revise the marks ratio because of the very real risk future selections will face on this score
The next contention for the petitioner is that having regard to the number of candidates interviewed and the time applied to conducting the interview no more than two minutes or so could have been given on the average to the oral interview of each candidate a period demonstrating in the submission of learned counsel that the selection process was conducted in a perfunctory manner and there was no real application of the mind to the selection of candidates
The State Government maintains that the time spent was four minutes per candidate
We have given the matter our anxious consideration and we are unable to hold that there is adequate material for striking down the selection on this ground
But here again the State Government would do well to note the observations made by this Court in Ajay Hasia supra in this matter and to ensure that Selection Committees take care to devote sufficient time to the oral interview of individual candidates having regard to the several relevant considerations which must enter into their judgment respecting each candidate
42 We are also told by the petitioner that the composition of the Interview Committee varied from time to time during the interviews
Therefore it is said the selection stands vitiated
It is alleged that while one member Shri NS Pathania Principal Medical College Jammu joined the Committee some time after the interviews had begun another member Shri BR Kundal Deputy Commissioner Udhampur was present during a part of the proceedings only and left thereafter
In regard to Shri NS Pathania it is not possible to say that his joining with a slight delay has materially affected the validity of the proceedings
And as regards Shri Kundal it appears that he was present on the 14th July 1980 and according to the petitioner left on the morning of the next day
It will be noticed that all the members of the Committee except Shri Kundal were persons closely associated with medical education
Shri BR Kundal was Deputy Commissioner of Udhampur
We also do not know what was the mode of functioning employed by the Committee whether it was such as to invalidate the proceedings if one of the members ex necessitas was unable to participate throughout in them
The respondents maintain that at least three out of four members remained present throughout the proceedings
And according to the petitioner a proportionately small number only of the candidates was interviewed when Shri Kundal was present
In all the circumstances we find it difficult to say that Shri Kundal s absence from the Committee vitiated its proceedings
Shri Soli Sorabjee then contends that a number of candidates were selected for admission because of favouritism on account of relationship or friendship with members of the Selection Committee or because they were related to important and influential persons in the State
The allegations have for the most part been made for the first time in the rejoinder affidavit and there has been no reasonable opportunity to the respondents to reply to them
Such allegations on this point as are contained in the writ petition are extremely vague and sketchy and can form no basis for a finding in favour of the petitioner
There is one more contention and that is that the respondents Nos 7 to 12 did not apply for admission to the Principal Government Medical College Srinagar and even if they are found to have done so their applications must have been submitted beyond the time prescribed as the qualifying examination in which they appeared was held late and the results were announced after the date prescribed for submitting the applications at Srinagar had expired
It 43 appears from the record before us that inasmuch as the relevant examination was held late and the announcement of the results was delayed the State Government permitted the candidature of these applicants to be considered for inclusion in a common list drawn up to cover candidates for admission to either of the Government Medical Colleges at Srinagar and at Jammu
Besides it is conceded by the petitioner that those respondents have an excellent record and if they had applied in time for admission to the Government Medical College Srinagar they would certainly have been admitted on the basis of their merit
In the circumstances we do not propose to interfere with the grant of admission to those respondents
Accordingly the only relief which in our judgment should be awarded to the petitioner is the quashing of admissions granted in the quota reserved for rectifying regional imbalances
In consequence those seats must be filled up on the basis of open merit
Writ Petitions Nos
5601 of 1980 5615 and 5689 to 5697 of 1980 which proceed on the same lines as Writ Petition No 5600 of 1980 must be disposed of in like manner
The remaining cases Writ Petitions Nos 6283 to 6307 of 1980 fall in a separate category
The petitioners here challenge the selection of candidates for admission to the MBBS course in the Government Medical College Jammu for the year 1980 81 and complain of the denial of admission to them
The facts on which these writ petitions have been brought and the grounds on which they claim relief are substantially the same as in Writ Petition No 5600 of 1980
Indeed Shri MK Ramamurthi learned counsel for the petitioners states at the outset that he adopts the submissions urged in that case against the validity of the admissions granted for the purpose of rectification of regional imbalances in regard to the invalidity alleged by the assigning of 30 marks to the viva voce examination and also in regard to the legal effect on the interview proceedings of the absence of some members of the Selection Committee during part of the proceedings
These points have been considered and disposed of by us in that writ petition and those findings are of equal validity in these writ petitions also
Besides this learned counsel for the petitioners raises other contentions
He urges that the selections made are not in accordance with the Regulations framed by the Indian Medical Council under section 33 read with section 19A and therefore violate the fundamental right of the petitioner guaranteed 44 under Article 15 of the Constitution
It is contended that the Regulations are law and are enforceable in a court and that if they are to prevail the only reservation permissible is that in favour of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
According to the Regulations it is asserted a Selection Committee can either take into consideration the marks obtained in a qualifying examination or in the competitive test
Nor it is said can a viva voce examination be permitted as a vehicle for selection
The validity of holding a separate objective test is also assailed as also of assigning 35 of the total marks to it
The merit test is challenged on the ground that no curricula have been prescribed in relation thereto Objection to the objective test and the viva voce examination is based on the ground that they fall outside the scheme envisaged by the Regulations made by the Indian Medical Council for admission to the MBBS course
The respondents however question the validity of the Regulations
We are then referred by the petitioners to clauses j and I of section 33 in support of the contention that the power of the Council to make regulations extends to making regulations prescribing the examinations and tests for admission
It seems to us prima facie that those provisions do not authorise the Council to do so
But we refrain from expressing any final opinion in the matter as the Council is not a party before us
We are also not satisfied that the reservations permissible must be confined to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
Nor do we find sufficient basis in the submission that there is arbitrariness in providing for 35 marks to a separate objective test in addition to the 35 marks earmarked for the qualifying examination
The grounds taken before us do not justify the conclusion that a competitive entrance examination is not permissible in law in addition to the qualifying examination
In regard to the sufficiency of the objective test we are not satisfied that the absence of a prescribed formal curriculum vitiates the objective test
The next contention on behalf of the petitioners is that the presence of a Government official on the Selection Committee vitiates its constitution
It is stressed that the viva voce test to be acceptable should be conducted by persons who are men of high integrity calibre and qualifications
There is no principle of law so far as we know disqualifying a Government official from participating on the Interview Committee merely because he is a Government official
Nor do we believe that a Government official cannot be a person of high integrity calibre and qualifications
The constitution of a 45 Committee lies in the wisdom of the State Government and it is expected that men suitably qualified in every respect will be appointed to discharge the functions of the Committee
So long as the State Government acts bona fide and on the basis of relevant considerations it is not possible to say that the appointment of a Government official is obnoxious to the law
In the result the writ petitions are allowed insofar that the selection of candidates for admission to the MBBS course of the Government Medical Colleges at Srinagar and at Jammu for the year 1980 81 made on the basis of rectifying regional imbalances is quashed and the respondents are directed to fill up those seats on the basis of open merit
The candidates who will be displaced in consequence have already completed a few months of study and in order to avoid serious prejudice and detriment to their careers it is hoped that the State Government will deal sympathetically with their cases so that while effect is given to the judgment of this Court the rules may be suitably relaxed if possible by a temporary increase in the number of seats in order to accommodate the displaced candidates
In the circumstances there is no order as to costs
SR Petitions allowed


Summary:
Selection of candidates to be admitted to MBBS course in the Medical College of the State of Jammu  Kashmir was made by a Selection Committee on the basis of a merit in qualifying examination 35 marks b an objective test 35 marks and c a viva voce test 30 marks
The seats were distributed besides the examination base was determined by a distribution of the seats into three distinct divisions namely i 60 on the basis of open merit ii 20 on the basis of reservation for scheduled castes and other reserved categories one of which was broadly described as socially and educationally backward classes which included candidates from a areas adjoining actual line of control and b areas known as bad pockets including Ladhak and iii 20 were reserved as seats to be filled on the basis of inter se merit to ensure rectification of imbalance in the admission for various parts of the State if any so as to give equitable and uniform treatment to those parts
In Nishi Maghu vs State of Jammu and Kashmir   the Supreme Court held that the selections made under the third category were invalid inasmuch as the classification made for rectification of regional imbalance without identifying the areas suffering from imbalance was vague
The State Government therefore published Notification No 41 GR of 1980 dated 24th September 1980 purporting to identify certain villages as socially and educationally backward for applying the principle of rectification of imbalance in different parts of the States
and reduced the distribution of seats in the Medical Colleges of the State under this category from 18 to 17 under this category
This order is challenged by the petitioner an unsuccessful candidate in the selection made for admission to MBBS course for the year 1980 81
35 Allowing the petitions the Court  HELD 1
The classification attempted by the State Government by its order dated 24th September 1980 suffers from the vice of arbitrariness and is therefore invalid
There was no intelligible data before the Court for sustaining the classification
No doubt the State Government had acted in its own wisdom but the material to which that wisdom was applied was not disclosed at all
The fact by itself that some hundreds of villages had been brought within the classification is of no assistance whatever
That a comprehensive understanding of regional imbalances from the Anand Committee report and the Sikri Commission report had not been possible yet affords no justification for an arbitrary classification
The State failed to bring the case within Article 154 of the Constitution
39 G 40 D State of UP vs Pradip Tandon  applied
There is need to revise the marks ratio for the viva voce test because of the very real risk future selections would face on this score
The Government would also do well to ensure that Selection Committees take care to devote sufficient time to the oral interview of individual candidates having regard to the several relevant considerations which must enter into their judgment respecting each candidate41 D  G A Peeriakaruppan etc
vs State of Tamil Nadu and Ors 1971 2 SCR 430 Nishi Maghu vs State of Jammu and Kashmir   Ajay Hasia vs Khalid Mujib   referred to
The selection cannot be said to be vitiated on the ground that one of the members Shri Kundal left after some time and therefore the composition of the Interview Committee varied from time to time since three out of four members remained present throughout the proceedings and a proportionately small number only of the candidates was interviewed when Shri Kundal was present
42 D E 2 3
The appointment of a Government official as a member of the Selection Committee is not obnoxious to the law
There is no principle of law disqualifying a Government official from participating on the Interview Committee merely because he is a Government official
It cannot be said that a Government official cannot be a person of high integrity calibre and qualifications
The constitution of a Committee lies in the wisdom of the State Government and it is expected men suitably qualified in every respect will be appointed to discharge the functions of the Committee
So long as the State Government acts bona fide it cannot be said that the presence of a Government official on the Selection Committee vitiates its constitution
44H 45 A B 2 4
Selection of a number of candidates in the present case cannot be said to have been made because of favouritism on account of relationship or friendship with members of the Selection Committee or because they were related to important and influential persons in the State
Besides being sketchy and extremely vague such allegations have been made for the first time in the rejoinder affidavit and there has been no reasonable opportunity to the respondents to reply to them42 F 36 3
The grant of admission to respondents Nos 7 to 12 in the instant case is in order inasmuch as the relevant qualifying examination was held late and the announcement of the results was delayed
The State Government correctly permitted the candidature of these applicants to be considered for inclusion in a common list drawn up to cover candidates for admission to either of the Government Medical Colleges at Srinagar and at Jammu
Even according to petitioner those respondents have an excellent record and if they had applied in time for admission in the Government College at Srinagar they would certainly have been admitted on the basis of their merit
42G H 4
A competitive entrance examination is permissible in law in addition to the qualifying examination
In regard to the sufficiency of the objective test the absence of a prescribed formal curriculum does not vitiate the objective test
44 E 5
A reading of the regulations framed by the Indian Medical Council under section 33 read with section 19 A of the makes it clear that the reservation permissible need not necessarily be confined to Scheduled castes and scheduled tribes
44 E