pecial Leave Petitions Civil Nos
5535 36 of 1987
From the Judgment and Order dated 284
1987 of the Madras High Court in WA No 1302 and 1307 of 1986
Nalini Chidambaram and Ms Seita Vaidyalingam for the Petitioner
1051 B Datta Additional Solicitor General Shanti Bhushan section Padmanabhan MA 
Krishnamurthy KK Mani K Swami anti AV Rangam for the Respondents
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by SEN J
The short question involved in these special leave petitions is whether the proper criterion to adopt for selection of candidates belonging to the category eminent sportsmen  for admission to the MBBS course is pre eminence in sports and not academic excellence
In the prospectus issued by the State Government of Tamil Nadu for admission to the MBBS course for 1986 87 in the Govern ment Medical Colleges in the State there was reservation of three seats for the category eminent sportsmen  as speci fied in category iii to Annexure I also indicating the order of preference
The relevant provision reads iii Eminent Sportsmen The order of preference is as follows a participation at International level the candidate being sponsored by a national body
b participation at National level the candidate being sponsored by a State Body or University
c participation at State level the candi date being sponsored by Zonal or District Association
Sponsorship Certificate should be produced
If not produced candidate will not be considered under this category
Note Candidates applying for admission to categories i ii and iii must have secured 50 aggregate marks in science sub jects in the qualifying examination
 It appears that the petitioner along with 2 16 others ap plied for the sports quota reserved for eminent sportsmen 
The petitioner who is a champion in acquatics had been sponsored by the Tamil Nadu State Acquatic Association showing participation in several tournaments at National level
The Selection Committee adopted participation at 1052 National level to be the criterion and thus 16 candidates were left in the field
It selected respondents nos
4 6 for the three seats reserved for eminent sportsmen  on the basis of marks obtained by them at the qualifying examina tion
The petitioner having obtained 17450 marks was not placed either in the select list or in the waiting list
It is necessary to set out the marks obtained by the petitioner as well as respondents nos4 6 as alsothe candidates placed in the waiting list 1
Khalid Hussain Petitioner 17450 2
R Vijaya Sree 4th Respondent 21540 3
Seshasayee Narasimhan 5th res
20295 4
K Subramaniam 6th res
20090 Waiting List Candidates 1
T Jayaraj 19655 2
Suja Ramakrishnan 19280 3
Praveen Kumar David 19058 4
G Rajalakshmi 18660 Aggrieved by the non inclusion of his name in the select list he moved the High Court of Madras by a petition under article 226 of the Constitution
A learned Single Judge Mohan J by his judgment dated December 2 1986 observed that the whole purpose of reservation of three seats for the category eminent sportsmen  was to encourage sports and held that in order to show some distinction with regard to individual achievements three categorisations had been made such as participation at International level National level and State level and beyond that he saw absolutely no scope for importing the concept of determining eminence inter se among the candidates falling within a particular category
He further observed that the decision of a Division Bench in P Sabitha vs The Director of Medical Education  Ors WP No 940683 decided on April 6 1984 which upheld the validity of such reservation of seats for sportsmen was of little avail to the petitioner
The learned Judge struck down the selection of respondent No 6 as invalid on the ground that the Selection Committee proceeded on a wrongful assumption that he had actually played at National level in the V Pattabhiraman Trophy Tournament while he had only been selected to play at the Tournament
He however dis missed the writ petition and declined to grant the petition er any relief since he had no chance of getting admission as there were candidates in the waiting list who had obtained higher marks than him and made a direction that the Selec tion Committee would fill up the vacancy from the waiting list and go by the order of merit
1053 Being dissatisfied with the judgment the petitioner preferred an appeal but the Division Bench declined to interfere
In delivering the judgment of the Division Bench MN Chandurkar CJ speaking for himself and M Srinivasan J referred to P Sabitha s case which upheld reservation of seats for the category eminent sportsmen 
As regards the category eminent sportsmen  appearing in the present rule the learned Chief Justice observed It has to be pointed out that the rules themselves do not provide for any comparative degree of eminence between different candi dates in the same category
Such a determina tion of comparative eminence apart from introducing an element of subjective determi nation and providing a scope for discretion which would be capable of being arbitrarily exercised in the absence of any guidelines also appears to us to be impracticable
The reservation for eminent sportsmen  is not restricted to any particular game
There are different kinds of game and different kinds of tournament
In some games tournaments are held more frequently than in others
To com pare the performance whether qualitywise or quantitywise by a candidate proficient in one game with the performance of a candidate in an altogether different game is neither possible nor feasible
The proper approach to determine which of the candidates in one particular category should be given a preference in the selection must therefore necessarily depend only on their academic merit
 We are in agreement with the observations made by the learned Chief Justice
In support of the petition Ms Nalini Chidambaram learned counsel for the petitioner sought to raise two points before us
The first was that a Division Bench of the High Court in P Sabitha vs The Director of Medical Educa tion supra laid down a principle that preeminence in sports was the only criterion for select ion of candidates falling under the category eminent sportsmen  and not academic excellence
She pointed out that the learned Advo cate General in P Sabitha s case adopted the stand that the seats were reserved for eminent sportsmen and therefore it is only eminence attained in the field of sports that can be the guiding factor for selection of candidates in that category and not anything else and submitted that it was not open to the State Government to shift the stand now and justify the action of 1054 the Selection Committee in selecting candidates not by their distinguished superiority as compared with others fame or excellence in the field of sports but merely on the basis of higher marks obtained in the qualifying examina tion
The contention was that the view expressed by the learned Judges that in case of professional courses merit alone should be the criterion and therefore reservation of seats under the category eminent sportsmen  could be availed of only by deserving candidates which it was said runs counter to the principle laid down by the earlier Division
Bench in P Sabitha s case
The second contention was that at any rate the learned Judges were in error in observing that though they were inclined to take the view that respondent No 6 had really not participated in a national tournament as he had in fact played in the zonal tournament that the Selection Committee had wrongly select ed him as a successful candidate on the impression that the zonal tournament was of national level even then they were not inclined to sustain the order of the learned Single Judge by which he set aside the selection of respondent No 6
The learned Judges held that the Selection Committee was justified in making the selection of respondents nos
4 6 under the category eminent sportsmen  on the basis of their academic merit
The learned Judges further held that there were no allegations of mala fides and the decision of the Selection Committee was reached bona fide and merely because respondent No 6 had been wrongly selected that was no ground for interference inasmuch as respondent No 6 had been admitted to the Medical College and undergone studies for the MBBS course for almost a period of six months and had given up his seat in another technical course for which he had been admitted namely in the Regional Engi neering College Kurukshetra and there was no change of his getting back that seat and it would not be just and proper that he should lose his seat in the Medical College for no fault of his but at the instance of the petitioner who stood no chance compared to the other candidates in the waiting list having secured much lesser marks
In taking that view the learned Judges observed that it was not obligatory for the Court to interfere in all cases unless justice of the case requires interference
We are afraid we are unable to accept any of the contentions
The argument of learned counsel for the petitioner does not take note of the fact that the decision in P Sabitha s case proceed on an interpretation of a provision for reser vation of seats for the category eminent sportsmen  which was altogether different
The importance of the decision in P Sabitha s case lies only on the view that a provision for reservation of seats in professional courses for sportsmen was 1055 not irrational or arbitrary but had reasonable nexus to the object sought to be achieved in public interest namely promotion of sports
In the prospectus for the year 1986 87 the State Government has brought about a change
The provi sion as it now stands provides for a rule of preference
Category iii dealing with eminent sportsmen lays down the order of preference as between candidates for selection and makes sponsorship certificate a condition prerequisite for eligibility
Further candidates applying for admission to category iii like categories i and ii must have se cured 50 aggregate marks in science subjects in the quali fying examination
The rule nowhere provides for any deter mination of comparative eminence
All that the rule does is to lay down a rule of preference
A candidate who had par ticipated at International level would exclude a candidate participating at National level and a person who had partic ipated at National level would exclude a person participat ing at State level
It has to be pointed out that the rule itself does not provide for determination of comparative eminence as between different candidates falling within the same class but as between sportsmen who have participated at International level National level and State level
It only provides for the rule of exclusion of one by the other
There are no guidelines provided by which comparative emi nence can be judged as between candidates belonging to the same class eg at National level as here
Nor does it provide for any guidelines by which the choice has to be made as between the candidates who have excelled in a par ticular field of sports eg acquatics
The real difficulty arises when there is more than one candidate who have ex celled in their respective fields of sports eg cricket football hockey etc
and the number of seats reserved are less than the candidates found eligible
All of them being more or less equal the best method is to go by marks ob tained at the qualifying examination
In such a case the selection must necessarily depend upon their academic mer its
Even in P Sabitha s case the Court realised the difficulty to lay down any guidelines for adjudging compara tive eminence between sportsmen falling within the same class and it was said that when candidates are shown to have attained equal proficiency in sports then their academic superiority can be pressed into service as a tilting factor in their favour
In the absence of any guidelines for purposes of selec tion the adjudging of comparative merits among the eligible candidates falling under the category eminent sportsmen  would necessarily introduce as the learned Chief Justice observed an element of subjectivity which would introduce arbitrariness in the selection of candidates 1056 because it would be left to the discretion of the Executive in making the choice
In the absence of any guidelines there is
nothing for the Selection Committee to fall back upon except the marks obtained by the candidates at the qualifying examination
The argument of the learned counsel obviously based on the observations in P Sabitha s case that the proper test to adopt in the matter of selection of candidates for admission to the MBBS course belonging to the category eminent sportsmen  was pre eminence in sports and not academic excellence cannot be accepted
That test cannot obviously be applied in interpreting the present rule
The remaining contention does not merit consideration
The learned Judges although inclined to the view that re spondent No 6 had really not participated in a National tournament were entitled to take the view that the Court ought not to in the facts and circumstances of the case exercise its discretionary powers under article 226 of the Constitution at the instance of the petitioner who was not entitled to any relief merely because the Selection Commit tee was wrong in its view that respondent No 6 had played in a National tournament although he had in fact played in a zonal tournament
Any other view would have been manifestly unjust as respondent No 6 though admitted to the Regional Engineering College Kurukshetra had given up his seat there on his being admitted to the MBBS course and had already undergone his course of studies for more than six months
The learned Judges rightly observe that it is not obligatory for the Court to interfere in all cases unless justices of the case so demands
In the result the special leave petitions must fail and are dismissed
PSS Petitions dismissed


Summary:
The State Government of Tamil Nadu reserved three seats for the category eminent sportsmen  for admission to the MBBS Course for 1986 87 in the Government Medical Colleges
Category iii in Annexure I to the prospectus indicated their order of preference as participation at a Interna tional level b National level and c State level
Candidates securing 50 per cent aggregate marks in science subjects in the qualifying examination were made eligible
The Selection Committee adopted participation at the nation al level to be the criterion and selected three candidates on the basis of merit in the qualifying examination
Four candidates were placed in the waiting list in order of merit
The petitioner who was next in order of merit and could not be selected filed a petition under article 226 of the Constitution assailing the select however struck down the selection of respondent No 6 placed third in the select list since he had actually not played at the national level and directed the Selection Committee to fill up the vacancy from the waiting list and go by the order of merit
Dismiss ing the appeal by the petitioner the Division Bench held that the decision of the Selection Committee was reached bona fide on the basis of academic merit and that it was not just and proper that the respondent No 6 should lose his seat in the medical college for no fault of his but at the instance of the petitioner who stood no chance compared to the other candidates in the waiting list
In this special leave petition it was contended for the petitioner that the only criterion for selection was pre eminence in sports and not 1050 academic excellence and that the Division Bench was in error in not sustaining the order of the Single Judge set ting aside the selection of respondent No 6 who had played in the Zonal tournament which was not of national level
Dismissing the special leave petition HELD 1
All that Category iii does is to lay down a rule of preference
A candidate who had participated at international level would exclude a candidate participating at National level and a person who had participated at National level would exclude a person participating at State level
There are no guidelines provided for determination of comparative eminence as between candidates belonging to the same class eg at National level
Nor does it provide for any guidelines by which the choice has to be made between the candidates who have excelled in a particular field of sports eg acquatics or when there is more than one candidate who have excelled in their respective fields of sports eg cricket football hockey etc
and the number of seats reserved are less than the candidates found eligible
All of them being more or less equal the best method is to go by marks obtained at the qualifying examination
The selection must therefore necessarily depend upon their academic merits
If the adjudging of comparative merit amount the eligible candidates is left to the discretion of the Executive that would necessarily introduce an element of subjectivity which would introduce arbitrariness
1055B F 2
It is not obligatory for the Court to interfere in all cases unless justice of the case so demands
In the instant case the High Court was entitled to take the view that the Court ought not to in the facts and circumstances of the case exercise its discretionary powers under article 226 of the Constitution at the instance of the petitioner who was not entitled to any relief
Any other view would have been manifestly unjust
1056C D