IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT PATNA CWJC No.8602 of 2011 Priyanka Priyadrashni, D/o Sri Chandraketu Singh, resident of Mohalla Sadhanapur, P.S. Chapra Town, District Chapra………….Petitioner Versus 1. The State of Bihar through its Chief Secretary. 2. The Principal Secretary, Department of Health, Govt. of Bihar, Secretariat, Patna. 3. The Examination Controller, Govt. Services, Department of Health, Govt. of Bihar, Secretariat, Patna. 4. The Principal, Patna Dental College and Hospital (Health Dept. Bihar Govt.), Bankipur, Patna-800004. 5. The Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Board (BCECEB), I.A.S. Bhawan, Near Patna Air Port, Patna, through its Secretary. 6. The Controller of Examination, Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Board (BCECEB), I.A.S. Bhawan, Near Patna Air Port, Patna. 7. The Chairman, Bihar Combined Entrance Competitive Board (BCECEB), I.A.S. Bhawan, Near Patna Air Port, Patna……………..Respondents ----------- For Petitioner: M/s Anil Kr. Tiwary, Jagdish Prasad & Binod Kumar Mishra, Advocates For BCECE Board: Mr. Vikas Kumar, Advocate For State: Mr. Amiya Kumar, A.C. to A.A.G. No. XIV 2 20.05.2011 Heard learned counsel for the petitioner as well as learned counsel for the respondents. It appears that a qualifying test was held for admission in MDS course in Patna Dental College. Unfortunately, no candidate qualified in the test as per eligibility criteria fixed by the Dental Council of India through its Regulations. 2 In the circumstances, the Principal of the College wrote a letter to the Examination Controller of the Health Department on 15.04.2011, a copy whereof is Annexure-6, by which he recommended that if 5 grace marks are allotted to each candidate, who had appeared in the qualifying test, some candidates from the merit list may be available for being admitted in the course. In the letter, he also pointed out that similar grace marks are allotted to candidates, at times in MBBS and other courses by different Universities. It appears that in the meanwhile, Examination Controller of the respondent- Board had also written a letter on 08.04.2011 to the Principal Secretary of the Health Department, a copy whereof is Anenxure-5, pointing out that no candidate had become eligible for admission in MDS course in the College. Hence, he recommended that the request may be sent to the Dental Council of India for relaxation of eligibility criteria so that admission may be taken 3 in MDS course in the College. Learned counsel for the petitioner places reliance on the case of Aarti Gupta Vs. State of Punjab, reported in AIR 1988 Supreme Court 481, to submit that relaxation of eligibility criteria is within the domain of the State Government and, therefore, no permission of Dental Council of India is required in the matter. He submits that since the Principal of the College and Examination Controller of the Board have requested the State Government to consider relaxation of eligibility criteria, the State Government should do it so that candidates may be available for admission in the course. Request of the Principal of the College and Examination Controller of the Board may be reasonable in the facts and circumstances of the case. But constraint of this Court is that no mandamus can be issued in such matters to the respondents or the authorities concerned to relax, any eligibility criteria specially in respect of minimum marks required to be 4 secured in a competitive examination for admission in MDS course. Therefore, this Court refrains from issuing any direction to the State Government. The matter is entirely within the domain of the State Government to consider. If the State Government considers the same favourably, it will be appropriate that a decision is taken at an early date so that session may not be delayed. The application is disposed of with the aforesaid observations. BT (J. N. Singh, J.)