THE HON’BLE MR JUSTICE L. NARASIMHA REDDY Writ Petition No.4006 of 2009 ORDER: The State of Andhra Pradesh stipulated norms, relating to various courses, including M.B.A., as regards the pattern of admission, fee, etc. The Admissions and Fee Regulatory Committee (for short ‘the Committee’) was constituted, in exercise of statutory powers. The committee is conferred with the power to oversee the admissions. The fee structure and method of admission into minority institutions, on the one hand, and other institutions, on the other hand, is some-what different. During the academic year 2008-09, instances of minority institutions, not honouring the norms of admission, were noticed. The committee conducted a detailed study of the matter, and it was noticed that 18 students were wrongfully denied admission, and candidates with far inferior ranks to them, were admitted. As a remedial measure, attempts were made to secure admissions for those 18 wronged candidates. When one of them was admitted, the Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, the 8th respondent, took an objection, stating that the first semester of first year M.B.A., Course was almost at the verge of completion, and hardly four days were left out. When that student approached this Court by filing writ petition No.1232 of 2009, and it was directed that his case can be considered for admission in the next academic year, on the basis of the rank secured by him in the previous academic year. The four petitioners herein are from the group of 18 students, who are wrongfully denied admission in the previous academic year. They filed this writ petition way back in February, 2009, complaining that the respondents 1 to 8 are not taking steps to admit them into any of the institutions, on the basis of the ranking obtained by them in the previous academic year. They seek appropriate directions in this regard. Heard the learned counsel for the petitioners, learned Government Pleader for Higher Education, learned Standing Counsel for respondents 3 and 4, and learned Standing Counsel for respondent No.8. The petitioners have lost one full academic year, for no fault of them. They were denied admission by the minority institutions, though they secured fairly competitive rank. The minority institutions asserted their freedom to make admissions, according to their whims, and irrespective of the ranks assigned by the concerned authority. The committee stepped in, and gave a categorical finding to the effect that, as many as 18 candidates were denied admissions, wrongfully. Following the judgment rendered by the Hon’ble Supreme Court, in some of the cases, this Court took the view that a candidate, who was otherwise wrongly denied seat, can be compensated in the next academic year. Obviously, with that hope, the petitioners approached this Court, much before the admission process commenced, for this year. For one reason or the other, the relief could not be granted, in time. The admissions into M.B.A Course were completed on 24-08-2009. The spot admissions for the leftover seats are said to have been concluded on 25-09-2009. There is hardly anything, that the petitioners could have done about the delay, once they have approached this Court, on time. Learned Standing Counsel for the University received specific instructions to the effect that the last date for instructions of the first semester of First Year M.B.A Course, for the current academic year, is 26-12-2009. This cannot be compared to the instances of the previous year, where hardly four days were left out. At any rate, the delay, that occurred in the process of adjudication; cannot be read against the petitioners. It is brought to the notice of this Court that fairly large number of seats in M.B.A course are lying vacant, and admission of the petitioners would not, either result in increase in number, or displacement of admitted candidates. Almost two month’s course is leftover. The course is spread over two years. The delay in admissions can be compensated by requiring the petitioners to attend the leftover classes, at least up to 95%, as against the stipulated minimum of 65%. Hence, the writ petition is disposed of, directing that, a) The petitioners shall be eligible to be admitted into the First Year of M.B.A. Course in the respondents 10 to 14, or in any other college, on payment of the stipulated fee. This facility shall be available to the petitioners only, up to 5th of November, 2009. On such admission, they shall be entitled to appear in the first semester examination, if only they have put in 95% of the attendance, in the leftover classes. b) It is made clear that this relief is granted in the extraordinary nature of the facts and circumstances, and it cannot be treated as a precedent. There shall be no order as to costs. _______________________ Dt.30-10-2009. L. NARASIMHA REDDY, J. KO