34 CWP No 14944of2009 1 IN TIIE IIIGII COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA 1 CHANDIGARII DATE OF DECISION 1 12 2009 llmandecpSingh ctitioner m VERSUS 0 Guru AngadDev Veterinaryand Animal Scicnces C UniversityLudhiana and othcrs C5 CORAM I10N13111MRJUSTICE PERMOD KOII PRESKNTl M Iaiildei Shanna Advocate l701thepelitioncr MrJ INS Gill Advocate Ior 08 00 Pcrmod Kohli J emw Z Rcspolldcnt no l issucd a Plospcctus for adlnissions to dcgrec course Om 0113cch Oairycchnologyfor thc ScssiOll200910 Admissions wcrc to bc inadc on thc basis ofCoinmon 15ntrancc1cst lhc llllllllllUm qualification for comtnon cntrancc teSt as prescribcd in thc Prospcctusis 10 Or lts cquivalcntwith subjccts of PhysicsChcinistryMathcmatics and English fr0111 a rccogn iscd with at lcast 50Io marks for General Categoryand 40Io marks for Reselved Categories Thc petitioner who posscsses 1042 qualificationhaving inore than 50Io marks appliedfor CClllllllOll 1IltnlllCC ICSt lll Gcncral CatcgoryI Ie was Iloundclieible and issucd Roll No003 for appearing in thc COllllllOll lltltrallce 1est which was Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 35 CWP No 14944of2009 2 notilledto be held on 1962009 However the test was to 232009 hc pctitioncr in thc Entrancc lst and his rank was 51 As inany as 23 seats were notifled for adlnission to the DegrccCoursc Bachelorof llechnologyDairyTechnologyThe flrst counselling washcld Oll 1 72009 thc second on 11 82009 and thc third on l 92009 It is alIcgcdthat the petitioner for llrst counselling but his name was 1 t below in the merit ofthe candidatesappearing for flrst counselling and thus 0 his presencc was not marked even thoughhe remainedpresentfor flrst C hc petltioner for 2 counsellingagainIlis merit C5 was lower than the candidates but his presencewas marked in thercgistcr inaintained for the purpose Thc pctitioneragainappeared in the third Z counscllingIt is statedthat out of 23 notified seats 22 seats werc filled up V in the firsl two counsellngs and onlyone seat rclnained unfllled In the lncanwhilc cightlnore seats wcre addedto the Course Third counsclllng c8 was hcld for nine seats Out of nine seats onlyfive seats wcrc llllcd up QO emw Thrcc scats wcrc keptunfllled 11lcpctitioncr was denlcd admisslonon thc Z groundthat hc did not attendthc Orst counsclling held on 13 2009 The petitionerhas placcdon record spccilic affidavit I29 stating thereirlthat he attendedthc first counselling conductedon 1 72009 but his candidaturcwas not consideredon account ollhis Iessermerit However his prcsencewas not rnarkedbythe staff of nowUniversitybeing C lowcr in lnerit The grievance of thc pctitioner is that threeseats arc stilllyingvacant and lhc petitioneris cntitled to be considercd for admission agalnSl availablc vacancics hc in thc rcplyhas statedthal iherc wcrc ollly Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 36 CWP N 14944of2009 3 20 scats in quotaand thrcc seats werc lneant for Indian Council of Rescarch 0lercinaftcrreferred to as ICARI Thc ICAR nolnlnces didnot join Thus three seats mcant for ICAR and 5 additional scatswhich wcrc added to the intakccapacity and onc unfilled seats out of 20 wcrc to bc fillcdup in thirdcounscllinghus it is admittedthatas many as nlne seats werc availablcat the tune of third counscllingThe 1 L dcnied the appearanceof the pctitioner in thc flrst counselling 0 as also in the sccond counsellinglllgh lt lS admittedthat duringthe C sccond counselling the petitioner entered his name 111 the registerkepl C thcre It is stated that candidates from Srlosl to 57 came for Orst but the petitionerbeingat Srlo l dld not mark his presence Z The flrst counsellingwas heldon 13009 Petitioncrs prescncehas been dulylnarkcd in the attendancesheet for the second counselling held on X 11 8009 thoughhis presenceis disputcdbythc In any casc 06 Co thc positionof thepctltioner in thc third counselling lSnot V ln dispute havc relied upon Conditlon No7 ofthc Z todenyconsidcrationto thepetitioner Condition No readsas utlderl tl 79roccdurc for Selcction for admission aI Programmcs A consolidatedmeril Iist of all candidatesbasedon C the scorcllnarksobtained in the entrance test shall be Merit list of candidates eligibleto on appear in thc first counselllng will be dlsplayed the noticc boardof Registrars Office and same can bc seen on the universlty wcbsite www Oadvasuit Thc candidatcswho aploear 111 t Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 37 n e e CWP No 14944of2009 4 04 the flrst counselling but are not selected are eligibleto appear in thc counselling However the candidatcs abscnt in the flrst will not bc cllgibleto appear in the counselling The relativelnerit of thc candidatcsshall bc detcrminedonlyon the basisof m f marksobtained in the entrance tcst cxcept for 0 adrnission who 0 qualifythe enlrance test shall be governedby 9 criteria at AnnexuresA to IO It is in the aforesaidcondition that the candidateabsentin thc first counselling will not be eligibleto appear lIl the V counselling Hwever the aforesaid clauseprovidesfor admission on the basis of rclativc mcrit ofthe candidatcs and the marks obtained in thc 08 0 cntrancctcsl exccptfor sportspersons hc dlsputcthat narrows down is mm whether the petitioner was absent ln flrst counselling and whcthcr mCrC Z absenceper se lS sufficient to denythe admissionand in the counsclling I5verycondition in the has to bc mcaningfuland purposefulRegarding ofthe petitioner in the first counselling de1 thercis a disputeon fact The petitioner claimsthat he was present for the counsellingbut on account of his Iower merit his candidaturc was not considcrednor his prcscnce was marked Specificaffldavit has bccn flled tn thi s regard Thc however denied the verypresence ofthe pctitioncrduringthe first counsclling The even denled the prcscnceof thc petitioner ln the second counscllingI Iowcvcr thc Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 38 1 CWP No 14944of2009 5 Id attcndanccshcet lnaintained by thc reect the name of the petitionerduringthe second counselling It is also admittcdpositionthat thc pclitioncrcould not have been admitted in second counscllngbeing lowcr in Incrlt I Iis in third counsclling is admittcdposition hcrc is no disputethat Condition No7 of thc laysdown that a candidate who is absent in flrst counselling will not be pcrinitted to pai1lClpatc111 sccond and counselling lli s condition lS 0 whereadlnission is tnadeto multiiiscipline course in morc than C one InstltutlOllSe However one fails to understandthe logic the objectand 9 purposeof similar condition for admission to a singlediscipline course 111 onc lIlStitution alone In a multidiscipline course ln varlous ifa lneritoriouscandidalefails to in the flrst counselling and optsto in counselling and ln the meanwhilc a candidatewith Iesscrlncrit is alreadyadlnittedto a coursc and otj 03 ItlStltution which may bc optedby a candidatcwith highcrmcritwho did m7 not participate in the flrst counsclllng lt 1S bound to disturb thc scquence Z of events and will have the impact on thc admissionsalreadymadc which may have to be reliamed and relctermined and may rcquirethc dc novo excrclsc But such a condition is totallyillogicalirrclevant and unnecessary wherc adrnission lS to a singledisclplineand a singleinstitution like the C4 presentone Assuming a candidatewith lower merit has been considered and adinittcd ln the first counsclIingas against a candidate with highcr lllCrit who did not parlicipate in the first counselling and if a candidatewith highermcril appcars lll the second counselling and is considcred for admission and the vacancies are available in the disciplineand the lrlStitution it is not goingto disturbthc scqucnce of events nor docs it affcct Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 39 CWP No 14944of2009 6 4j thc rightof any candidate Or the allocation in aily manncr lnvoking such a condition which has no purposeor object to be achieved to dcnyadmission to a meritoriouscandidatcis itself violative of Articlc 14 ofthc Constitution ofIndia and such a condition is arbitrary in naturc No doubt the petitionerhas not spcclficallychallengcdthe conditionsofthe Prospcctus but hasdcfinitclychallcnged thc actionofthe as violativc of Article 14 of the Constitution of India Under 0 such a situation the condition has to be read down i f lt is unnecessary C and doesnot serve any purpose C hc prospectusfralned by the University or by any Bodyhas no backingEven then the conditions are normallyblndingHowever Z it 1S thc constitutionalobligationof the court to examine each and every condition and its true objectpurportand applicabilityAbsurdity hasto be ignorcd1his is truc about the statutes also What to say of a norstatutory 0t1 condition Condition No7 to the cxtent it lnandates that the candidate f wm abscnting in Ilrst counselling shall not bc cligibletoappearinsccond and Z counscllinghasabsolutcly no relevanccand objcctivlty for thc m Coursc in questionIn VlCW of the observationsmade hcrcrabovc this condition is to be read down There 1S anothcr rcason to declare the pctltlOllCras eligible The petitioncrwas presentduringthe second C counsclling which Iactthough disputcd ln thc rcplybut is cstablishedfroln the record His in the third counselling is an admittedfact If lhe pctitioner was lnellgiblche should not have been permittedin third counselling at Icast but hc has been permittedto parllclpatc111 third counselling and was even considercd but denied adlnission onlyon thc groundthat he did not participatc in first counscllingDenial of adinission lS Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 40 4 CWP No14944 of2009 7 4 1 not on lneril buton irrelevantconsiderationnot gerlnaneto the merit ofthe hus I dcclarc thc to bc eliglble his abscncc from thc first counscllingAvailability of thrcc vacancicshas been admittcdin the replyI Iowcver lt 1S statedthat thesc vacanciesbclongto thc lCAR In vicw of the replyof the learnedcounsel for the was askedto seek instructionsrcgarding1iIlingof thc thrcc 1 0 availablcvacancics and considerationof thc pctitioner on thc basis of his 0 merit vide order dated 201 02009 Thereafter MrGill reported that the C availablcvacancics are to be lled up byICAR and nol bythe University C5 Ile was askedto Ililean affldavit in this regardIn rcsponseto the direction of thc Court an affidavit has beenflled Thc relcvant extract of the affldavit readsas underl 3 1lat the threereservedseats for Idian Council of Agricultural Rcscarch quotacould not bc fillcd otj C as the candidatcsadmittcdin the said quotadid not 7 jointhe coursc Z 4Unfillcd scats of thc lndian Council of CL Agricultural Rcscarch quotashall be 01Yercdto thc candldatescolnpeting on opcn mcrit basis 99 This affldavit has made clear that three reserved vacancics to be C allcgcdlyfllled up by ldian Council of Agricullural Rcsearch could not be fl Ilcd as the candidatesadlnitted againstthe said quotadid not join the course The affidavit furthersaysthat the unfllled seats ofICAR quotashall bc oflcrcd to thc candidatcscolnpcting OllOpcnlnerit basis The pctitloner is candidatein lhc opcn merlt categoryHe has a rightof considcrationagainst thc availablc three scats on thc basis of his merit In view of thc clcar Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document 41 V J CWP No 14944of2009 8 1 averments madein the affidavit the have no optionbut to accord considcration to the pctitioncrfor adinission to thc coursc on thc basisof his lncrit and thc threeavailablc vacanc As a mattcr of fact the candidaturehasalready beenconsideredin thcthird counselling but he has been denied admission onlyon allegedtotallycxtraneousand irrclcvant plcaof his ln the rst counselllngwhich m condition of the has alreadybeen cxamined hereibove and 0 found to be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India The C petitioners merlt is not disputedHowever with a vlew to providca fair C to lhc lt 1S directed that the petitioner shal1 be considcred for admission againstthe available three vacancles within a Z periodof one week from todayand if thereiSno meritoriouscandidatethan hiin or he has sufficient lnerit for admission againstthe available three vacancics hc shall bc admittedto thecourse c C0 With thc aforcsaid observationsldircctlons this pctitionis disposed of Z PERMOD KOHLI JUDGE c21122009 MFK NOTEWhcther to be rcferrcd to the RcportcrlYES 101 27 Uma 2014.04.21 16: 35 Scanned True Copy of Original PHHC,Chandigarh Sahil Soni 2016.03.21 12:26 I attest to the accuracy and integrity of this document