IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE, ANDHRA PRADESH AT HYDERABAD (Special Original Jurisdiction) MONDAY, THE TWENTY SECOND DAY OF SEPTEMBER TWO THOUSAND AND EIGHT PRESENT THE HON'BLE MR JUSTICE B.SESHASAYANA REDDY WRIT PETITION NO : 16995 of 2008 Between: Malluvu Inthiyaz Ali S/o.M.Babu Saheb R/o.D.No.1-2-77, Kothapeta Street, Kalakada, Chittoor District. Rep. by his father M.Babu Saheb. ..... PETITIONER AND 1 The Government of A.P. rep. by its Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Secretariat, Hyderabad. 2 Rajeev Gandhi University of Knowledge of Technologies IIIT Campus, Hyderabad Rep. by its Vice Chancellor. 3 The District Collector, Chittoor, Chittoor District. 4 The District Collector, Kadapa, Kadapa District. 5 Syed Manseer Hall Ticker No. 594025, Z.P.High School, Kalakada, Chittoor District. .....RESPONDENTS Petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying that in the circumstances stated in the Aﬃdavit ﬁled herein the High Court may be pleased to issue a Writ order or direction more particularly one in the nature of Writ of Mandamus, declaring the selection process adopted by the Respondents Nos. 1 to 4 in giving grade marks school wise in a unit and thereby denying selection of the petitioner for admission into IIIT Course for the year 2008-09 is illegal, arbitrary and violative of Article 14 of Constitution of India and consequently direct the Respondents 1 to 4 to allot left over seat to the petitioner for admission into IIIT course for the year 2008-09 and pass such other order or orders. Counsel for the Petitioner: MR.P.SAI NATH Counsel for the Respondent Nos.1 to 4: GP FOR INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY The Court made the following : O R D E R: This Writ Petition has been ﬁled by Malluvu Inthiyaz Ali assailing the action of the respondents 1 to 4 in denying selection to him for admission into IIIT course for the academic year 2008-09. He also assails the selection of 5th respondent- Syed Manseer for admission into IIIT course for the year 2008- 09. 2. Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies (for short University) has been established as an autonomous organization by Government of Andhra Pradesh to educate the gifted rural students who may not have the beneﬁt of special coaching classes. The selection of students for admission into IIIT course in the University is based on the Local Best Model at the Mandal level. There are 6000 seats in all the three institutions of the University. 85 percent of the seats are reserved for students from rural schools of Andhra Pradesh, 15% seats are earmarked for meritorious students at State level. 900 seats are proposed to be ﬁlled up on the basis of statewide merit. 486 seats from open category, 135 from SC category, and 54 from ST category, 63 seats from BC-A category, 90 seats from BC-B category, 9 seats from BC-C category and 63 seats from BC- D category. The remaining 5100 seats are earmarked for rural students and these seats are allotted to 23 districts taking the population of the district as criteria. Accordingly, 267 seats have been allotted to Chittoor District. 3. The petitioner studied SSC in Viswa Jyothi (T.M.) High School, K.Batavaripalle, Kalakada Mandal, Chittoor District. He appeared for SSC examination with Roll No.0594024 in March, 2008. He secured 539 marks out of 600 and stood as a ﬁrst ranker in Mamidikuduru Mandal. According to the petitioner, 5th respondent-Syed Manseer who secured 513 marks ﬁgured in the selected list kept in the internet for admission into IIIT course in the University for the academic year 2008-09 under BC (E) category and whereas he secured 539 marks, but his name does not find place in the selected list. 4. When the writ petition came up for admission on 06.08.2008, the respondents entered appearance and ﬁled their counter aﬃdavit. The admission procedure has been detailed in the counter affidavit, which reads as under: Admission Procedure: 1. Admission to each constituent institute of this University will be after passing Secondary School Certiﬁcate (Tenth Standard) Examination in their ﬁrst attempt in that academic year from the State of A.P. 2. The total intake of the students from Andhra Pradesh will be 6000 at the rate of 2000 per each institute at Basara, Idupulapaya and Nuzivedu. 3. There will be no entrance examination and admission will be strictly based on student’s performance in the SSC examination. 4. Out of the total number of seats, 15 % of seats (as per the Presidential Order),i.e. 300 seats per institute will be open for state level toppers irrespective of their region, rural/urban background, category etc., while respecting the reservation norms. 5. In order to promote national integration and promote diversity, about 100 seats per institute (over and above 2000) seats will be open for other state students and admission will be on the basis of their combined merit in the State Board/AIEEE and interview. Preference will be given to the students coming from rural areas of the country. 6. For 85% of the seats, a region wise allocation will be as per the provisions of Presidential Order and based on the Census 2001. Accordingly, the region wise allocation is as follows: Coastal Andhra-42%, Rayalaseema-22 % and Telangana-36 %. 7. The region wise allocation will be proportionately distributed among the districts and further among Rural Mandals as per the share of their population vis-à-vis the district based on the 2001 census. The Tables below show the seat allocation by region and by district for each reservation category. 8. Seats in the district will be divided amongst all educational institutes (government/local bodies, aided and private) located in rural mandals subject to the condition that not more than one student from each category will be selected per school. 9. The category wise reservation of seats will be BC-25%, SC-15%, ST-6% and Open-54 %. BC category will be further subdivided into subcategories as per Government Order, 33 percent of the seats in each category will be reserved for women candidates. 10. Rural Mandal is taken as a unit in selection of suitable candidates. 11. Assignments to Mandals may often lead to fractional seats. These fractions are added with other neighbouring Mandals until a single seat can be allotted to a group of Mandals. 12. The top student from each school in a rural mandal is selected. The best student is deﬁned to be the top student in more subjects than his/her classmates in the same school. 13. The selection of best student is based on the principle of grading on the curve. The principle of grading on the curve works as follows: The top 3% of the students in each school in a given subject is given Grade A+ (4 points); the next 7% is given Grade A (3 points), the next 10% is given Grade A(2 points), and the next 30% is given a Grade B (1 point). A cumulative Grade Point Score is calculated by adding the scores for all the subjects for each student in every school. 14. The Grade Point Score for all the students in the State is computed. The State wide Merit List candidates are selected representing the best students in each reservation category across the State. 15. When two or more students are the best students in the same number of subjects, then a tie-breaking procedure is applied as follows: (maximum points a student can get is 24). We ﬁrst select students who have the maximum number of subjects with 4 points). i) If there is more than 1 student who has the maximum number of subjects with 4 points, e.g., 2 students with 4 points in three subjects, then we break this tie by selecting the one with maximum Grade Point Score. ii) If there is further tie, that is they have same number of subjects with 4 points and Grade Point Score, e.g., 4 points in three subjects and 3 points in 1 subject, then we select the one with highest number of marks in English. iii) If there is further tie, then we select the one with highest number of marks in Mathematics. iv) If there is further tie, then we select the one with highest number of marks in Sciences. v) If there is further tie, then we select the one with highest number of total marks., vi) If there is a further tie, the older student (in age) will be selected. 16. After 900 students for the State-wide Merit list are identiﬁed, we proceed with the allocation of the remaining 85% of the seats. First, we identify the top student in each school within the Mandal, using the above tie breaking procedure where needed. From the top students in each school in the Mandal, the best students in the Mandal are selected based on Grade Point Score procedure as before. After the open category candidates are identiﬁed, selection is made in each reservation category based on merit within the category. Students are compared using the same criteria, i.e., one or more students with the largest number of A+s are selected (no more than one per school) based on number of seats assigned to the mandal, again using the tie breaking procedure, if necessary. At most 4 candidates, one each in OC, BC, SC and ST, can be selected from any given school. 17. The unselected best candidates in a mandal in each category will be added to a waitlist to be used in case a selected candidate does not apply. 6. The respondents also ﬁled additional counter-aﬃdavit. It is stated in the additional counter aﬃdavit that the 5th respondent Syed Manseera is the top student in ﬁve subjects with grade points 23. 7. Heard learned counsel appearing for the petitioner and learned Government Pleader for Information and Technology appearing for the respondents 1 to 4. 8. Learned counsel appearing for the petitioner submits that the petitioner secured 539 marks out of 600 marks and he stood as No.1 in his mandal and therefore he is entitled to a seat in IIIT course for the academic year 2008-09. He also submits that selecting less meritorious students for admission into IIIT is arbitrary, illegal and opposed to the provisions of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. He took me to the memorandum of marks of the petitioner issued by Board of Secondary Education. 9. Learned Government Pleader for Information and Technology appearing for the respondents 1 to 4 submits that the petitioner is not the top student in the Mandal and therefore, he does not deserve for inclusion of his name in the selected list for admission into IIIT Course in the 2nd respondent University. 10. The admission procedure is very clear with regard to the selection of top student in the school. Selection of top student in the school is based on the principle of grading on the curve. The top 3% of the students in each school in a given subject is given Grade A+ (4 points); the next 7% is given Grade A (3 points), the next 10% is given Grade A(2 points), and the next 30% is given a Grade B (1 point). A cumulative Grade Point Score is calculated by adding the scores for all the subjects for each student in every school. 11. The contention of the petitioner that he is the top student in the mandal can be negatived by comparing the grade points secured by the petitioner and the grade points secured by the 5th respondent Syed Manseera. The comparative table of the grade points scored by the petitioner as well as the 5th respondent are as follows: M.Imthyaz Ali is the top student in only FOUR subjects with the grade point score of 22 as shown in the scores below: Subjects L1 L2 L3 MA SC SO TOT Marks 92 80 84 98 92 93 539 Grade Points 4 3 3 4 4 4 22 5th respondent-SYED MANSEERA of B.C. (E) from ZP High School, Kalakada and she is the top student in FIVE subjects with the grade point score of 23, as shown in the scores below: Subjects L1 L2 L3 MA SC SO TOT Marks 90 84 74 86 88 91 513 Grade Points 4 4 4 3 4 4 23 As per the table indicated above, the petitioner secured A+ (4 points) in four subjects and whereas the 5th respondent Syed Manseera secured A+ (4 points) in ﬁve subjects. As per the admission procedure, a student who has the maximum number of subjects with A+ (4 points) is to be preferred. In comparison of the petitioner with the 5th respondent, latter is being preferred since she secured more number of subjects with A+ (4 points). 12. Accordingly, the writ petition is dismissed at the admission stage. No costs. ________________________ B.SESHASAYANA REDDY, J. Date:22nd September, 2008. cs ..... REGISTRAR // TRUE COPY // SECTION OFFICER To 1.2CCs to 2.2CD copies Form-NIC-OGS/WP{KURR}