1 S/1 IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE FOR RAJASTHAN AT JODHPUR. .. Hemlata Panwar Vs. The Coordinator PTET-2009, JNVU, Jodhpur S.B. CIVIL WRIT PETITION NO.7975/2009. Date of Order :: 27th August 2009. PRESENT HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE DINESH MAHESHWARI Ms. Hemlata Panwar, the petitioner. Mr. M.P. Barua, (In-charge Legal Cell) for the respondent. ... BY THE COURT: The petitioner Ms. Hemlata Panwar, resident of village Tausar, Tehsil and District Nagaur having successfully taken the Pre Teachers Entrance Test-2009 (PTET-2009) has filed this writ petition stating the grievance against allotment of college while alleging that she was misled in stating her choices for incomplete information given by the respondent Coordinator, PTET-2009. 2 The background facts are that the petitioner, said to be a candidate belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBC) category, appeared in PTET-2009 at Roll No. 400562 and was declared successful after having obtained 268 marks. According to the petitioner, after having been declared successful and selected for first round of on-line counselling, she was allotted Counselling No. 65456; and she took part in the on-line counselling while stating as many as 356 choices in relation to the institutions preferred by her in the given seriatim. The petitioner has placed on record a print out of “Display Filled Choices” as Annexure-2. Suffice it would be to refer to the particulars in first 8 choices that read as under:- “DISPLAY FILLED CHOICES Choice No. Institute Location City District 1 Sarvodaya T T College (119W029) Didwana Road Chenar Nagaur Nagaur 2 Hind Teachers Training College(119C004) Mundwa Choraha Nagaur Nagaur 3 Gramothan Vidhyapeeth Sanasthan(119W023) Nr.Water Works Office Nagaur Nagaur 4 Bhartiya T T College (119C036) Near ITI College Nagaur Nagaur 5 Veer Teja Ji Mahila T T College(119W030) Tejasthali Nagaur Nagaur 6 Maa Sharda B.Ed. College(119C019) VPO-Deh, Jayal Nagaur Nagaur 7 S K Greenwood T T College(119C008) Didwana Nagaur Nagaur 8 Saraswati Shishak Prakshishan Mahavidhyalay (119C009) Teh. Didwana Nagaur Nagaur 3 The petitioner submits that major part of the preferential choices were filled by her for the institutions situated within district Nagaur and out of them too, the first few choices had been for the institutions that were believed to be in the city of Nagaur. According to the petitioner, she filled up the choice at serial number 4, i.e., Bhartiya T T College (119C036) while believing it to be a college located at Nagaur. The respondent Coordinator, PTET-2009 proceeded to issue provisional letter of college allotment to the petitioner on 27.07.2009 (Annex.3) allotting her the said college at serial number No.4 of her choices but with the following particulars:- “Bhartiya T T College (119C036), Near ITI College M H Road, Ladhnu, Nagaur” The petitioner has averred that location of the said Bhartiya Teachers Training College at Ladnu district Nagaur came to her knowledge only upon receiving the aforesaid letter of college allotment and not before. The petitioner has alleged that the said college is situated at a distance of about 150 kms. away from her place of residence. The petitioner has contended that the wrong information as given by the respondent misled her in stating the said college as her choice at serial number 4 and, therefore, she 4 submitted a representation also to the respondent Coordinator on 28.07.2009 (Annex.4) stating the grievance about such misleading information and making the prayer for allotment of college of her choice within the city of Nagaur but the respondent failed to redress her grievance. The petitioner has referred to the said print out of the “Display Filled Choices” and has argued that the fact about the said Bhartiya Teachers Training College being located at Ladnu was not given out by the respondent in explicit terms and that was the only reason that she believed the said college to be in the city of Nagaur and stated it to be her 4th choice. The petitioner submits that she should not be made to suffer for incomplete and misleading information given by the respondent and ought to be allotted a college near her residence as per her merit standing so as to permit her to take up her studies properly. The respondent has filed a detailed reply to the writ petition with the submissions, inter alia, that the petitioner has attempted to mislead this Court while suppressing the material facts. According to the respondent, on the official website, i.e., http://ptetadmissions.nic.in, complete information in detail had been published providing the name of the institutions, address, location, city, district, phone number, mobile number etc. and a candidate was 5 required to fill in the prioritywise choices of the college where he/she would like to be accorded admission; and a candidate was supposed to lock his/her choices only after going through the entire information made available on the website. According to the respondent, the document as produced by the petitioner as Annexure-2 of 'Display Filled Choices' does not contain complete address due to short width of paper and, while annexing with the reply as Annexure R/1 the complete information said to be available on the said website, i.e., ptetadmissions.nic.in, the respondent has pointed out that in relation to the said college, the information was available on the following heads and with following particulars:- Code Inst Name Address Location City 119C036 Bhartiya T T College (119C036) Near ITI College, M H Road, Ladhnu Near ITI College Nagaur The respondent has also raised the objection that the petitioner having been allotted the seat at the said Bhartiya T T College, Ladnu and herself having reported and joined, the said institution is a necessary party to this petition because granting of any relief herein would disturb the seats available with the said institution. It is also contended that the selection process has been completed as per the instructions of the Government and the entire on-line counselling has been carried out by the National 6 Informatic Centre wherein a nearly fool-proof procedure has been adopted ruling out the possibility of any fraud. It is submitted that no person having lesser marks in the category of the petitioner has been accorded admission in any of the institution for which she has opted at serial numbers 1 to 3 in the 'Display Filled Choices' and as per her merit, she has been allotted the seat with the institution stated at serial number 4 and thus, no prejudice has been caused to her. With reference to the decision in Ritesh Arya & Ors. Vs. State of Rajasthan & Ors. : 2004 (3) WLC 323, it has also been stated in the reply that the Courts refrain from interfering in the academic matters unless there be flagrant violation of fair play or a case of bias or malafide is established. There being no such case herein, the petition, according to the respondent, deserves to be dismissed. Having heard the petitioner Ms. Hemlata Panwar appearing in person and Mr. M.P. Barua, Incharge, Legal Cell appearing for the respondent Coordinator, PTET-2009, Jai Narain Vyas University, Jodhpur and having perused the material placed on record and having given a thoughtful consideration to the entire matter, this Court is clearly of opinion that the petition deserve to succeed. 7 Even when the respondent would assert that the particulars of the colleges with their address and location etc. were available on the website ptetadmissions.nic.in, it is absolutely clear from the print out of 'Display Filled Choices' as placed on record by the petitioner as Annexure-2 that so far the choice stated at serial number 4 by the petitioner, i.e., Bhartiya T T College, is concerned, there had not been any indication that the same was not located in or around the city of Nagaur but at Ladnu. It is also noticed from the same document Annexure-2 that in relation to several other institutions, while giving their name, their location had been stated with reference to the town, village, or post office like Jayal, Didwana, Merta City etc. but, so far the said Bhartiya T T College was concerned, its location was stated only as 'near ITI College' while city was stated as Nagaur and district as Nagaur. It appears that for the particulars as stated in the last but one column, i.e., the name of city, the respondent chose to give out the name “Nagaur” even when the various institutions were located at different places like Didwana, Merta City etc. The petitioner has pointed out the location of the said college to be about 150 kms. away from the city of Nagaur. Though Mr. Barua appearing for the respondent suggested 8 that such distance is about 80-90 kms. only, but without entering into this controversy about the exact distance, this much is certain that the said Bhartiya T T College is located far away from Nagaur and in the ordinary circumstances, there was no reason for the petitioner to have chosen the said college in priority if its correct location was made explicitly known to her. Reading the print out of 'Display Filled Choices' as a whole with reference to the relevant particulars, it is at once clear that incomplete particulars therein would lead any person to believe that Bhartiya T T College was situated at Nagaur and in any case, nobody would assume that the college was situated far away from Nagaur and in a different town, i.e., Ladnu. Even if it be accepted that the respondent had otherwise given out the details concerning every college separately on the website, so far its location is concerned, if the same was not of specification and exactitude in the choices to be filled by the candidate, the candidate cannot be made to suffer on that count. The respondent does not appear justified in suggesting as if the petitioner has attempted to mislead this Court. The petitioner has given out all the relevant facts in the petition. It 9 had been the respondent who failed to state the correct and exact particulars regarding the college in the relevant column of location. That the information was misleading enough is clear from the fact that in relation to other colleges, their location has been stated with reference to village, town or city like those at serial numbers 6,7,8 but not regarding the college at serial number 4. Having regard to the overall circumstances, this Court is satisfied that had the respondent given all the requisite details, particularly regarding location of the institution, there was no reason that the petitioner would have opted for a college far away at Ladnu as her choice at serial number 4. The objection as raised in the reply by the respondent about non-joinder of college as party, does not carry even a technical value what to say of substance. The college allotment has been made by the respondent Coordinator only and for the grievance against the mistake on the part of the respondent, the said college or any other college does not appear to be a necessary party to this petition. Reference to the decision in Ritesh Arya (supra) appears to be entirely misplaced. Therein, the claim had been to the admission against the quota of free seats and the petitioners claimed the right to admission against free seats 10 on the basis of the fact that they were initially apprised by the Coordinator about their admission against free seats and later on the mistake was sought to be rectified. The principles rather operate against the respondent that a basic and fundamental mistake ought to be rectified and the rights of the parties are not taken away nor made to be governed by a fundamental mistake. The present one had been a case of the basic mistake on the part of the respondent and this Court is clearly of opinion that the respondent, instead of standing on ceremonies, ought to have acted bona fide and corrected the mistake immediately when represented against by the petitioner in her representation dated 28.07.2009. During the course of submissions, it has been stated by the petitioner that the college choice filled by her at serial number 5, i.e., Veer Teja Ji Mahia T T College (119W030) is located at Marwar Mundwa comparatively near to her residence and she would be willing to pursue her studies in the said college. Having regard to the circumstances, when it is noticed that the petitioner on her merit standing cannot be allotted the colleges at serial numbers 1 to 3 of her choice, this Court is of opinion that while ignoring the choice stated at serial number 4, she should be allotted the college as stated at serial number 11 5, i.e., Veer Teja Ji Mahila T T College (119W030). Accordingly, this writ petition is allowed; the respondent Coordinator is directed to amend the letter of college allotment (Annex.3); to allot the petitioner Veer Teja Ji Mahila T T College (119W030) instead of the said Bhartiya T T College (119C036); and to issue further necessary orders for admission of the petitioner in the said college. In the circumstances there shall, however, be no order as to costs. (DINESH MAHESHWARI), J. //Mohan//