Miss. Manjula Puvyal vs Punjab University and others

Miss. Manjula Puvyal through present petition filed by her under Arti cles 226/227 of the Constitution of India, seeks issuance of writ in the nature of certiorari so as to quash order dated August 3, 1993, Annexure P4, passed by the Chairman, Department of Bio-chetnestry, Punjab University, Chandigarh, whereby she was declared ineligible to appear in the Entrance Test for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Bio-chemistry.

Brief facts of the case reveal that petitioner, who was student of Government Girls College, Sector 42, Chandigarh, passed out her B.Sc. (Medical) three years course with the subjects -- Chemistry, Botany and Zoology from the Punjab University, Chandigarh in the second division securing 54% marks. The Dean of University Instructions issued admission notice for the academic session 1993-94 inviting applications for admission to various courses in the teaching departments of the Punjab University. The notice appeared in the Tribune dated July 6, 1993, One of the course, which she wanted to do was M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Bio-chemistry. The eligibility for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in various disciplines, mentioned in the admission notice, that appeared in the newspaper, was as mentioned below :--

"M.Sc. (Honours School) : Anthropology, Biochemistry, Biophysics, Botany, Chemistry, Geology, Mathematics, Micro-biology, Physics and Zoology.

The students who have passed B.Sc. (Hons. School) are eligible for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in the concerned subject as given above. The additional seats for eligible B.A./B.Sc. students for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in the following subjects, are :-- Anthropology (20), Botany (20), Biochemistry (10), Physics (30), Chemistry (10), Zoology (23)".

Petitioners, who, according to her, fulfilled eligibility criteria as laid down in the admis-sion notice that appeared in the Newspaper and which is also mentioned in the Handbook of Information for 1993 for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Bio-chemistry, applied for admission to the said course before the last date. She received acknowledgement bearing reference dated July 27, 1993. The eligibility criteria for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) as spelled out from the prospectus, is as follows :--

"A person who has passed one of the following examinations in the concerned subject may be admitted to the M,Sc. (Hons. School) Course:

(i) B.Sc. (Hons. School) examination of the Punjab University in the subject of M.Sc. (Hons. School) course;

(ii) B.Sc. (Pass or Honours) examination of the Punjab University or any other examination recognised by the Punjab University as equivalent thereto, with the subject of the Hons. School course.

(iii) B.A. or B.Sc. examination of the Punjab University or any other examination recognised by the Punjab University as equivalent thereto, for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Anthropology;

Provided that the admission of the eligible students in (ii) and (iii) above will be based on. their merit in the entrance test conducted for this purpose/the fulfilment of such other requirements as may be laid down by the Syndicate."

The case of the petitioner is that the eligibility as prescribed in the Prospectus of M.Sc. (Hons. School) Course provides that a person, who has passed the examination (i) B.Sc. (Hons. School) examination of the Punjab University in the subject of M.Sc. (Hons. School) course (ii) B.Sc. (Pass or Honours) examination from the Punjab University or any other examination recognised by the Punjab University with the subject of Hons. School course and (iii) B-A. or B.Sc. Examination from the Punjab, University or any other examination recognised by the Punjab University as equivalent thereto for admission to M.Sc. (Hons; School) in Anthropology. In so far as persons belonging to categories Nos. (ii) and (iiij are. concened, their admission is governed on the basis of merit in the Entrance Test. Persons belonging to category (i) have not to appear in entrance test and their admissions are to be made on the basis of marks obtained by them in the qualifying examination. Even though petitioner was eligible and was to compete for the test, she was not permitted to do so as she was held ineligible and her application was rejected. A copy the order dated August 3, 1993, rejecting her application has been placed on records as Annexure P-4. She along with her father approached the Chairman on August II, 1993 and made him request so as to consider her for the Entrance Test on the basis of eligibility criteria laid down in the prospectus but her entreaties brought no tangible result. Thus, she was filed the present petition asking for the relief as indicated in the earlier part of this judgment.

Learned counsel for the petitioner contends that the impugned order declaring petitioner to be ineligible for the Entrance test for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Biochemistry is illegal as also arbitrary and the petitioner, who fulfils the eligibility criteria as laid down in the admission notice as well as in the Handbook of Information for 1993-94, is entitled to be considered for admission in the Entrance Test.

It requires to be mentioned that it has been pleaded in the writ that there has been change in the criteria of admission of after publishing the same but this point has not been canvassed by learned counsel even though in the initial stages and particularly at the time of motion hearing the point was pressed. It appears that after the written statement was filed and no change in the admission criteria could be pointed out, the point was not raised at the time of final hearing.

The cause of petitioner has been opposed and in the written statement that has been filed by respondents Nos. 1 to 3, it has been pleaded that petitioner is ineligible to take the Entrance Test for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Bio-chemistry in View of Handbook of Information, 1993, which at page 93, describes the eligibility for admission as follows :--

"The students who have passed the B.Sc. (Hons. School) examination in Bio-chemistry of this university or any other examination recognised by this University as equivalent to it, are eligible for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) course in accordance with the norms and guidelines laid down by the University."

It is pleaded that petitioner did not pass B.Sc. (Hons. School) in Bio-chemistry as also any other recognised course as equivalent to it, i.e., B.Sc. (Hons. School) in Bio-chemistry.

By way of additional affidavit dated Sept. 20, 1993 the Chairman of the depart-ment concerned has stated that the ten additional seats were for the students from the Universities other than the Punjab University and a test was limited to those students only. They too had to have passed the course, the syllabus of which might have been equivalent to Punjab University in B.Sc. (Hons. School) Bio-chemistry. It is further stated in the affidavit aforesid that a letter was addressed on May 13, 1993 to the Assistant Registrar to D.W.I., Punjab University, Chandigarh that for M.Sc. (Hons. School) 1st year, the vacant seats after admitting the departmental students would be filled on the basis of a test to be conducted from outside Universities. Only such a student would be considered for admission who secure a minmum of 60% marks in the admission test. In the light of the decision, reference of which was given in the letter aforesaid, it was further stated that the number of seats for M.Sc. (Hons. School) Part I for the session 1993-94, would be ten.

Petitioner has filed reply to the said affidavit denying that the additional ten seats-, created for the session 1993-94 in the department of Bio-chemistry Punjab University, were only meant for students of Universities other than Punjab University, whose syllabus was recognised to be equivalent to the Punjab University in B.Sc. (Hons. School) Biochemistry as it was no-where mentioned either in the admission notice or in the Handbook of Information issued by the pean of University Instructions and the same was contrary to the eligibility criteria issued by the Punjab University for admission to B.Sc. (Hons. School), she has further stated in the reply aforesaid that she had passed B.Sc. (Medical) with the subjects, such as Chemistry, Botany and Zoology and the syllabus of Chemistry, Botany and Zoology studied by her is stated to be constituting the subject of Bio-chemistry and there is nothing on record, to show thai the syllabus of B.Sc. (Medical) which she had studied, has not been recognsied by the Punjab University for admission to M.Sc. (Hons.) in Bio-chemistry.

The only point that has been stressed by the learned counsel for the petitioner is that from the eligibility criteria spelled out from the admission notice, it is clear that the additional seats mentioned in the admission notice and which were ten for M.Sc. (Biochemistry), it was not necessary for the students to be B.Sc. (Honour). B.A./B.Sc. students were eligible for admission to M.Sc. (Hons. School) in the subject mentioned in the admission notice, inclusive of Biochemistry. However, in case of such students, there had to be an entrance test. The stand, as reflected above, is further strengthened from the Prospectus, contends the learned counsel. As per clause (iii) of the Prospectus, portion thereof, has been reproduced in the earlier part of the judgment, would reveal that the admission of eligible students in Clauses (ii) and (iii) is to be based on the entrance test and under Clause (iii) a student, who has done B.A./B.Sc. of the Punjab University or any other examination recognised by the Punjab University as equivalent thereto, was entitled to admission, further contends the counsel.

After hearing the learned counsel for the parties and going through the records of the case, I am of the opinion that there is no substance in the contentions raised by the learned counsel for the petitioner, and, therefore, this petition must fail.

The additional seats were meant for eligible B.A./B.Sc. students, but they were not available for all the subjects mentioned in the admission notice. As is clear from clause (iii) of the Prospectus, the students, who have passed B.A./B.Sc. examination of the Punjab University or any other examination recognised by the Punjab University as equivalent thereto, were entitled to admission in only one subject, i.e. M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Anthropology. So far as Clause (iii) of the Prospectus in turn talks of eligibility of B.A./B.Sc. students for admission in M.Sc. (Hons. School) in Anthropology, in any way they were not eligible for admission in any other subject like Botany, Bio-chemistry, Physics, Chemistry and Zoology. The matter does not end there. The Handbook of Information for the year 1993 on which reliance has been placed by the respondent to defend its action clearly stipulates that so far as M.Sc. (Hons. School) Bio-chemistry is con cerned, the student, who has passed B.Sc. (Hons. School) examination in Bio-chemistry of Punjab Uniersity or any other examination/ recognised by this Univerity as equivalent thereto, would alone be eligible for admis sion. It is not disputed by the petitioner that in the admission notice there was a note appended that for detailed information, the students had to refer to the Handbook of Information. Looked from any angle, thus, the petitioner was not entitled for admission in M.Sc. (Hons. School) Bio-chemistry and was rightly held ineligible to appear in the entrance test.

For the reasons, stated above, this petition is dismissed. However, the parties are left to bear their own costs.

Petition dismissed.