DR. MUNEEB UL REHMAN HAROON & Ors. v. GOVERNMENT OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR STATE

The petitioners in the writ petitions were medical gradultes who applied for ad.nission to the Post-gradu.ite course in the Medical College, Srinagar for the semester beginning in July 1970, appJared for an entrance test but the result was rIOt declared officially. They contended in their writ petitions that the refllsal of the Government to admit any student at the three semesters \Vhich commenced all for the Post-Graduate course for in July 1980, November 1980 and July 1981 was viola•.ive of the funda. mental rights guaranteed under Articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution, besides being ma la fide. The State Government contested the writ petitions contending that in July, 1980 governing admission to the interests of the to an extent discriminatory the July 1980 semester, initiated so as to requirements of the Constitution, and the rules which were in operation Post-Graduate Medical Course, were prejudicial students of Jammu Medical College and were and that was why rio admissions were made to that the amendment of the rules of admission were bring them in conformity with the that this took a long period of 18 months. to the Dismissing the writ petitions, 1 - M. U. REHMAN v.

K. STAril 34S HELD : There is no violation of any of the fundamental rights of the State authorities arbitrary or the action of the petitioners nor is ma/a fide. [J48C] Atala fides cannot be a~$un1ed while dealing with a question which has far-re~ching consequences. No .specific facts havo been alleged on the basis of which a finding can be recorded that the decisicn not to adtnit any student at all for three consecutive semesters was actuated by a rnala fide intention is only a bald assertion in on the part. of the St;.te .Government. There the writ petitions that a total ban was placed on admission to the three consecutive semesters in order to r.~vour some per.sons. [347H-348A] In the instant case, u11til the year 1973 there was only one Medical College in the State of Jammu & KashmirJ wbich was at Srinagar. The Medical College al Jammu wo1s started in 197 3. The Jammu Medical Co\ 1ege was affiliated to the Ja.mmu University while the Srinagar Medical College W<lS affiliated 10 K«shmir University. The statutes of Jammu University did not correspond to th·~ statutes of the Kashmir Uoiversity for admission to the Post-graduate courseJ in favour of thoSe thcreb)' causing discrimination the statutes of the the requir~inents under fulfilling take 1 the statutes of the those eligible under the State Government had Kashmir University as against Jammu University. That was why, action for :uriog the defects Which were inherent in the prevailing proce .. dure for selection to the Post-Graduate Medical Course in 'the two medical colleges. The Kashmir University statute was arnended so as to introduce in the rules of admission. According to clause 3 of the 1980 uniformity Notice of Admission, it WJS necessary for the caodidcites to have completed in the concerned speciality, as provided one year's Con1pulsory House Job in the statutes of the Kashmir University. Under the amended µrovisions which came in 1981 candidates had to complete one years's House Job in a recognised institut!on in the concerued subject or six months' in the concerned subject and six months' House Job in an •allied House Job subject. The amended rule conforms the rule which prevailed in other parts of the country and was in accordance with recommendations of the Medical Council of India. [347C-G] into force - ORIGINAL JuRISDicnoN: Writ Petition No. 1742 & 3129 of

1981. Under article 32 of the Constitution of India. Vimal Dave for the Petitioner. 346 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1985j I s.C.k. A Alta! Ahmed for the Respondent. The Judgment of the Court was delivered by CHANDRACHUD, C. J. These Writ Petitions are not maintain able under article 32 of the Constitution because they do not involve the violation of any fundamental right of the petitioners. The petitioners applied for admission to the Medical College, Srinagar, for the Post-graduate Course of the Kashmir University for semester beginning in July 1980. Th'y app~ared for an entrance test but the result of that test was not declared officially. The petitioners seem to possess info:imt'on to the effect, and they have so alleged in their petitions, th1t th'Y hwe passed the test. No admissions were made either to the July, 1980 semester or to the two following semesters beginning in November, 1980 and July 1981.

An entrance test was held for admission to the semester beginning in November 1981 and the result of the test has been announced. We are informed that 16 out of 17 petitioners in these two Writ Petitions appeared for that test. There is a vague averment in the petitions that the refusal of the Government to admit any student at all for the July, 1980 seme strr is violative of the petitioners' fundamental rights under articles 14 and 19 of the Constitution and is also ma/a fide. We are unable to see how. The petitioners have not been picked and chosen for treatment as. compared with other candidates similarly hostile circumstanced. They are also not deprived of their right to practise any profession, or to carry on any occupation.- They are all quali fied doctors, they have passed their M.B.B.S. examination, almost all of them have appeared for the entrance November, 1981 semester and they are all serving and practising as doctors. test held for Shri T.U. Mehta, who appears on behalf of the petitioners, says that the wholesale non-admission of students to the Post graduate Course for the three semesters which commenced in July 1980, November 1980 and July 1981 is an arbitrary act which offends against the guarantee of fairness implicit in article 14.

The answer of the State Government is that the rules which were in operation in July 1980, governing admission to the Post-graduate Medical Course, were prejudicial to the interests of the students of the Jammu Medical Coliege and were, to an extent, discriminatory. That is why, no admissions were made to the July 1980 semester. • - M. u. ,REHMAN v. J, K. STATE (Clzandrachud, c. J.) 347 Ttere is apparently no reason for doubting the veracity of this explanation though, we do not know why the amendment of the rules of admission, so as to bring them in conformity with the requirements of the Constitution, took as long as 18 months. The red· tape correspondence between the Health Department Commis sioner, the Principal of the Srinagar Medical College, the Vice Chancellor of the Kashmir University and the Ministry of Health consumed a long time. Until the year 1973, there was only one Medical College in the State of Jammu & Kashmir, which was at Srinagar.

The Medical College at Jammu was started in 1973. The Jammu Medical College is affiliated to the Jammu University while the Srinagar Medical College is 1affiliated to the Kashmir University. The statutes of Jammu University did not correspond to the statutes of the Kashmir University for admission to the post-graduate course, thereby causing discrimination in favour of those fulfilling the requirements under statutes of the Kashmir University as against those eligible under the statutes of the Jammu University. With more and more candidates from the Jammu Medical College becoming eligible for selection to the post-graduate medical course, the discriminatory procedure prescribed by the statutes of the Kashmir University became conspicuous. That is why the State Government had to take action for curing the defects which were inherent in the prevail ing procedure for selection to the post-graduate medical course in the two medical colleges.

The Kashmir University statute was amended so as to introduce uniformity in the rules of admission. According to clause 3 of the 1980 Notice of Admission, it was necessary for the candidates to have completed one year's Compul sory House Job in the concerned speciality, a• provided in the statutes of the Kashmir University. Under the amended provision which came into force in 1981, candidates hwe to complete one year's House Job in a recognised institution in the concerned subject or six months' House Job in the concerned subject and six months' House Job in an allied subject. The amended rule conforms to the rule which preyails in other parts of the country and is in accordance with recommendations of the Medical Council of India. In so far as the allegation of ma/a fides is concerned, no speci fic facts have been alleged on the basis of which we can record a finding that the decision not to admit any students at all for three ~onsecutive semesters was actuated by a ma/a fideintention on the H J - • 348 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (198511 S.C.Ri.

A B c [) part of the State Government. There is a bald assertion in the Writ Petitions that a total ban was placed on admission to the three consecutive semesters in order to favour some persons. Who those persons are we do not know. How they stood to gain by a tota ban on admissions to the post-graduate course for a year and ha If is not clear. And, we cannot assume while dealing with a question which has such far reaching consequences as the question of mu/a fides, that the State Government had some particular persons in mind, to favour whom, every one of the students was denied the benefit to all, of post-graduate education. How, by denying admission favour was shown to a fow is difficult to understand, especially when those few favourites are in ob; cur:ty and remain unidentified. Since there is no violation of any of the fundamental rjghts of the petitioners, nor indeed is the action of the State authorities arbitrary or ma/a fide, the petitions must fail and are dismissed. There wil,l be no order as to costs. .. • N.V.K. Petitions dismissed.