HC issues notice to UT on medical admissions

Saurabh Malik

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, July 2

The Punjab and Haryana High Court today issued a notice of motion to the Union Territory of Chandigarh on a student’s plea, alleging that residents of other places, coming to Chandigarh only for Class XII, became entitled to 85 per cent reservation in their own state as well as in the UT for admission to medical courses. The act, she had claimed, was detrimental to the interest of bonafide city residents.

Taking up the plea filed against the UT Administration and other respondents by Sabhya Kamal through counsel Abhinav Gupta, the Bench of Justice Mahesh Grover and Justice Mahabir Singh Sindhu made clear that the admission in the SC category, of which the petitioner was a member, would be subjected to the outcome of the writ petition. 

“It is made clear that the counselling may go on but the admission made the SC category, with which the petitioner is concerned, shall be subjected to the outcome of the writ petition,” the Bench asserted. In her petition, Kamal had prayed for directions to the UT Administration to formulate a proper eligibility/domicile criterion for candidates seeking admission against reservation of 85 per cent provided for the state quota/UT pool.

Kamal had also sought the quashing of a clause in the eligibility criteria and the admission procedure for 77 UT pool seats, which reads, “The candidates should have passed Class XII examination (qualifying examination) from school/colleges recognised by the Chandigarh Administration and situated in the Union Territory of Chandigarh as a regular student.”

 Dubbing it illegal, arbitrary, illogical and unfair, senior advocate Girish Agnihotri and Abhinav Gupta added that it did not fulfil the objective for which it was incorporated and had no rationale with the object sought to be achieved by it.

Directions were also sought for staying the admission process in Chandigarh during the pendency of the present writ petition as the final merit list was to be uploaded on June 26 and the first counselling was scheduled for July 2.

Gupta added the objective of providing 85 per cent reservation for bonafide city residents was basically to ensure that students were able to get admission within their own state without having to go elsewhere.

Gupta submitted the prospectus for admission in Chandigarh was absolutely silent on the issue of a bonafide UT Chandigarh. It simply provided for admission to any candidate who happened to do his/her Class XII from any school recognised by the Chandigarh Administration and was located in the UT.

 “The issue is very serious in nature as it tends to create an unfair competition between the candidates who are bonafide residents of Chandigarh and those who come for Class XII from Chandigarh just in order to take advantage of the reservation provided for bonafide residents of Chandigarh,” Gupta asserted.