Case ID: 6057

Judgment:
(Civil) No. 1050 of 1986. (Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India). A.C. Gulati	 S.K. Goel	 S.K. Bansal and L.C. Goyal for the Petitioner. T.S.K. Iyer	 Mariarputham	 Ms. A. Mathut	 M. Veerappa	 Pramod Swarup	 K. Ramkumar	 R. Bana	 A. Subba Rao	 S.K. Bhattacharya	 Ms Urmila Kapoor and Ms. Janki for the Re spondents. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by PATHAK	 CJ. On 31 July	 1987	 we allowed this writ petition and directed the respondents to admit the petition er	 Meenakshi Malik	 in one of the three Delhi Medical Colleges in the first year course prescribed for the M.B.B.S. Degree. We said that the reasons would be pro nounced later. We proceed to do so now. The petitioner was born in Delhi on 8 September	 1967. Her father	 Shri O.P. Malik	 was employed in the National Council of Educational Research and Training	 Sri Aurobindo Marg	 New Delhi 860 and her mother	 Smt. Kanta Devi Malik was employed in the Government Girls Senior Secondary School	 Mehrauli	 New Delhi. The petitioner attended the Junior Public School	 Shakti Nagar	 upto Class II and the Cambridge School	 Siri niwaspuri	 New Delhi	 upto Class IX until 19 January	 1982. The petitioner 's father was placed on deputation in January 1982 with the Government of Nigeria to serve in its Ministry of Education through the Ministry of Home Affairs	 Depart ment of Personnel and Administrative Reforms	 Government of India	 New Delhi. The petitioner	 who was a minor at the time	 had to accompany her parents along with her minor brother. In Nigeria	 the petitioner continued her education as an overseas candidate and appeared for the examination conducted by the University of London in Kanduna	 Nigeria	 and she passed the General Certificate of Education Ordinary level (GCE 'O ' level) which is recognised by the Central Board of Secondary Education	 New Delhi	 as equivalent to Class XI in India. On completing the period of his deputation on 8 April	 1984 the petitioner 's father returned to India with his family. The petitioner was admitted to Class XII in the Delhi Public School	 Mathura Road	 New Delhi. The Central Board of Secondary Education permitted her admission to that Class. The petitioner appeared in the All India Senior School Certificate Examination conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education	 New Delhi	 in March	 1985 and passed the examination. The petitioner then sat for the Entrance Examination for admission to one of the three Medical Colleges in Delhi	 and she obtained 750 marks. The candidates who obtained an equal number of the marks or even less were granted admission	 but the petitioner was denied admission. She fell for consideration in the quota of seven ty per cent of the seats reserved for candidates who had passed the qualifying examination from the University of Delhi or the Central Board of Secondary Education or the Council for the Indian School Certificate Examination from recognised schools conducting regular classes in the Union Territory of Delhi. But she was denied admission because she had not satisfied the further condition that the last two years of education should be had in a school in Delhi. Aggrieved by the denial of admission	 the petitioner filed the present writ petition. It seems to us that the qualifying condition that a candidate appearing for the Entrance Examination for admis sion to a Medical College in Delhi should have received the last two years of education in a school in Delhi is unrea sonable when applied in the case of those candidates who were compelled to leave India for a foreign country by 861 reason of the posting of the parent by the Government to such foreign country. There is no real choice in the matter for such a student	 and in many cases the circumstances of the student do not permit her to continue schooling in India. It is	 of course	 theoretically possible for a stu dent to be put into a hostel to continue her schooling in Delhi. But in many cases this may not be feasible and the student must accompany a parent to the foreign country. It appears to us that the rigour of the condition prescribing that the last two years of education should be received in a school in Delhi should be relaxed	 and there should be no insistence on the fulfilment of that condition	 in the case of students of parents who are transferred to a foreign country by the Government and who are therefore required to leave India along with them. Rules are intended to be rea sonable	 and should take into account the variety of circum stances in which those whom the rules seek to govern find themselves. We are of opinion that the condition in the prescription of qualifications for admission to a medical college in Delhi providing that the last two years of educa tion should be in a school in Delhi should be construed as not applicable to students who have to leave India with their parents on the parent being posted to a foreign coun try by the Government. Accordingly	 the denial of admission to the petitioner to a seat in one of the Medical Colleges in Delhi must be held to be unreasonable. It is not disputed that if the condition of schooling for the last two years in a school in Delhi is removed from the way	 the petitioner would be entitled to admission in a Medical College in Delhi. In the circumstances	 the petitioner is entitled to an order di recting the respondents to admit her to one of the Medical Colleges in Delhi. T.N.A. Petition Allowed.

Summary:
The petitioner was born and studied upto class IX in Delhi. In 1982 she left for Nigeria	 along with her parents	 where her father went on deputation. There she passed the General Certificate of Education Ordinary Level	 conducted by University of London	 which was recognised by the Central Board of Secondary Education	 New Delhi as equivalent to Class XI in India. She returned to India along with her family in 1984. After passing the All India Senior School Certificate Examination in 1985	 she appeared for entrance examination for admission to one of the three Medical Colleges in Delhi and passed the test. But she was denied admission because she had not satisfied the further condition that the last two years of education should be had in a school in Delhi. Aggrieved by the denial of admission	 the petitioner filed a writ petition in this Court. By an order dated 31st July	 1987 this Court allowed the Writ Petition and directed the respondents to admit her in one of the three Delhi Medical Colleges in the first year course prescribed for the M.B.B.S. Degree. Giving reasons for the said order	 this Court	 HELD: 1. Rules are intended to be reasonable	 and should take into account the variety of circumstances in which those whom the rules seek to govern find themselves. [861C] 2. The qualifying condition that a candidate appearing for the 859 entrance examination for admission to a Medical College in Delhi should have received the last two years of education in a school in Delhi is unreasonable when applied in the case of those candidates who were compelled to leave India for a foreign country by reason of the posting of the parent by the Government to such foreign country. There is no real choice in the matter for such a student	 and in many cases the circumstances of the student do not permit her to con tinue schooling in India. Theoretically it is possible for a student to be put into a hostel to continue her schooling in Delhi but in many cases this may not be feasible and the student must accompany the parent to the foreign country. [860H	 861A] 3. The rigour of the condition prescribing that the last two years of education should be	 received in a school in Delhi should be relaxed	 and there should be no insistence on the fulfilment of that condition	 in the case of students of parents who are transferred to a foreign country by the Government and who are therefore required to leave India along with them. Therefore	 the denial of admission to the petitioner to a seat in one of the Medical Colleges in Delhi was unreasonable. [861B	 861E]