IN THE HIGH COURT OF KERALA AT ERNAKULAM PRESENT : THE HONOURABLE MR. JUSTICE S.SIRI JAGAN THURSDAY, THE 12TH JUNE 2008 / 22ND JYAISHTA 1930 WP(C).No. 17343 of 2008(M) -------------------------- PETITIONER: ------------ DEEPA RANI.V.M, AGED 22 YEARS, D/O.MANIYAN.S, DEEPA NIVAS, KULAPPADA P.O, ARYANAD (VIA), NEDUMANGAD TALUK, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695542. BY ADV. SRI.K.ABDUL JAWAD SRI.A.RAHIM RESPONDENTS: ------------- 1. STATE OF KERALA, REPRESENTED BY SECRETARY TO GOVERNMENT, DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM. 2. COMMISSIONER FOR ENTRANCE EXAMINATION, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM-695001. 3. TAHASILDAR, NEDUMANGAD TALUK, THIRUVANANTHAPURAM DISTRICT. BY GOVT. PLEADER SHRI.I.V.PRAMOD THIS WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) HAVING COME UP FOR ADMISSION ON 12/06/2008, THE COURT ON THE SAME DAY DELIVERED THE FOLLOWING: S.SIRI JAGAN, J. ================== W.P.(C).No.17343 of 2008 ================== Dated this the 12th day of June, 2008 J U D G M E N T The petitioner is a candidate who appeared for the Medical Entrance Examination this year for admission to medical colleges in Kerala. She belongs to Latin Catholic community. As per the prospectus, the petitioner is required to furnish a certificate along with the application form itself certifying her community for the purpose of claiming benefits of reservation. The petitioner submitted application in which the community of the petitioner was shown as “Christian Nadar LC”. The petitioner was not afforded the benefit of reservation as a Latin Catholic on the ground that in the community certificate produced in the application form it is not mentioned that she is a “Latin Catholic other than Anglo Indian”. As per the prospectus, those who seek reservation as a Latin Catholic should, in the certificate specifically mention his/her community as “Latin Catholic other than Anglo Indian”. The petitioner submits that because of no fault of hers, the concerned Tahsildar/Village Officer has certified the petitioner's community only as “Christian Nadar L.C” without w.p.c.17343/08 2 including the words, “other than Anglo Indian”. The petitioner would submit that in so far as it cannot be disputed by anybody that the petitioner is actually a Latin Catholic, the absence of the words, “other than Anglo Indian”, is purely a technicality which can be easily remedied by giving the petitioner the benefit of reservation of Latin Catholic especially since nobody has a case that the petitioner belongs to the class of Anglo Indians. The petitioner, therefore, seeks the following reliefs: “i) Please to call for the records leading Ext.P1 to P5 and to issue a writ of mandamus declaring that the petitioner belonged to the 'Latin Catholic other than Anglo Indian' community and thus eligible to communal reservation under S E B C; ii) To issue a writ of mandamus or direction to the 2nd respondent to revoke its decision disallowing communal reservation to the petitioner and admit her to such reservation treating Ext.P2 is of substantial compliance.” iii) To issue a writ of mandamus or direction to the 3rd respondent to issue a certificate showing the caste-name of the petitioner's father as 'Latin Catholic other than Anglo Indian' forthwith and direct the 2nd respondent to accept the same admitting the petitioner to communal reservation.” 2. I have heard the learned Government Pleader also. 3. Citing various clauses in the prospectus for admission, the learned Government Pleader would stoutly oppose the prayers. According to him, it was the look out of the petitioner to see that the application form is filled up strictly in accordance with the instructions in the prospectus. Admittedly the petitioner w.p.c.17343/08 3 has not done so. He points out that in the prospectus it has been specifically stated that candidates are required to go through the prospectus carefully and acquaint themselves with all the relevant information relating to the examination. He further points out that in the case of production of community certificates, those who claim reservation as Latin Catholic had been specifically instructed to have their certificates showing “Latin Catholic other than Anglo Indians”. The prospectus also contains a specific condition that the community certificate once produced will not be allowed to be changed and the certificates produced later, will not be considered for the purpose of deciding the community. According to the learned Government Pleader, since the community certificate produced by the petitioner does not conform to the instructions in the prospectus, the petitioner is not entitled to the reliefs prayed for. 4. I have considered the rival contentions in detail. From the prospectus I see that the Government has gone to the extreme length to impress upon all the candidates the necessity to carefully fill up the application forms in accordance with the instructions in the prospectus. The petitioner does not dispute the fact that the prospectus contains the provisions pointed out by w.p.c.17343/08 4 the learned Government Pleader. The only contention of the petitioner is that this is purely a technicality which is in fact a hyper technicality and therefore, a poor candidate who comes from the lower strata of the society should not be denied the benefit of reservation for the mistake committed by a Tahsildar. Even assuming that it is a hyper technicality, such technicality is a necessity for the Commissioner of Entrance Examination to efficiently do the job of selecting students entrusted with him. If at this point of time I direct the Commissioner of Entrance Examination to allow correction of the petitioner's application form, that would be a precedent for others who would seek similar corrections and benefits. In fact several other writ petitions have come up before me seeking similar reliefs, which have not been entertained. In the above circumstances, I am not inclined to entertain this writ petition and accordingly, the same is dismissed. Sd/- sdk+ S.SIRI JAGAN, JUDGE ///True copy/// P.A. to Judge w.p.c.17343/08 5