NON-REPORTABLE

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA

CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION

WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 541 OF 2017

AMINA MARWA SABREEN A (MINOR) AND OTHERS .....PETITIONER(S)

VERSUS

STATE OF KERALA AND OTHERS .....RESPONDENT(S)

J U D G M E N T

A.K. SIKRI, J.

The petitioners herein, three in number, belong to Muslim

minority community.  They are, however, not residents of Kerala

and their fixed abode is Tamil Nadu.  They have appeared in the

National  Eligibility  Cum  Common  Entrance  Test  (for  short,

‘NEET-UG’)  examination,  which is  an All  India  examination for

admission  to  various  medical  courses.   Results  of  NEET-UG

examination  were  published  on  June  23,  2017.   Though  the

petitioners  have  qualified  the  said  test,  their  All  India  ranking

appears  to  be  quite  low.   Notwithstanding  this  ranking,  the

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petitioners are hopeful of getting admission in minority institution

run  and  administered  by  their  community,  as  they  feel  that

because of the preference which can be given by the minority

institutions  to  the  persons  belonging  to  their  community,  it

provides  a  reasonable  chance  of  getting  admission  to  such

colleges.  Respondent Nos. 4 to 8 are the medical colleges run by

the  minority  institutions.   However,  the  petitioners  feel  their

chances to get admission in any of the aforesaid colleges, i.e.

respondent Nos. 4 to 8 which are situated in Kerala, are dented

because  of  the  undue  preference  given  to  those  who  are

residents of Kerala.  This mars the chances for getting admission

in Kerala colleges as they are non-keralites being residents of

Tamil Nadu.

2) In the writ petition reference is made to Ordinance No. 7 of 2017

known as “The Kerala Medical Education (Regulation and Control

of  Admission  to  Private  Medical  Educational  Institutions)

Ordinance  of  2017”,  {Notification  No.  4246/leg.H1/2017/LAW}

which was promulgated on June 01, 2017 by the Governor of

Kerala.  This Ordinance provided for the regulation of admission

and fixation of fee for private medical educational institutions in

the State of Kerala and also for providing reservation of seats to

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persons belonging to the Schedules Castes,  Scheduled Tribes

and Other Backward Classes in medical/educational institutions.

Section 10 of  this Ordinance provided for reservation of seats.

This provision reads as under:

“10.  Reservation of seats. –  In admission to private aided  or  unaided  medical  educational  institutions, other than the minority educational institutions referred to  in  clause  (1)  of  Article  30  of  the  Constitution  of India,  there  shall  be  reservation  at  the  stage  of admission for the persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes,  Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other  Backward Classes  of  citizens  as  may  be  prescribed  by  the Government.”

3) As per the aforesaid provision, reservation was made for persons

belonging  to  Schedules  Castes,  Scheduled  Tribes  and  Other

Backward Classes.  Further, persons belonging to these classes

are not  confined to the State of  Kerala and all  those who are

citizens of India are qualified for such reservation.  Further, the

minority institutions governed by Article 30 of the Constitution of

India are excluded from this provision, meaning thereby they are

not supposed to make reservation for these classes as prescribed

by  the  Government  and  they  can  have  their  own  system  of

reservation,  if  any.     Section  2(c)  of  this  Ordinance  defines

‘centralised counselling’ as under:

“(c)   “centralized  counselling”  means  a  common counselling and allotment of seats in colleges through a single window procedure by the Government or by

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any  agency  authorised  by  it  for  persons  who  have qualified in the entrance test for the purpose of merit based admission to medical colleges or institutions;”

4) Section 2(l) defines ‘minority’ and Section 2(m) defines  ‘minority

institution’.  Under Section 3 of the Ordinance, admission and fee

regulatory committee is to be constituted by the Government by

issuing notification in the Gazette.  This committee is supposed to

supervise and guide the admission process as well as fixation of

fee which is to be charged from candidates seeking admission in

various medical institutions.  It is the say of the petitioners that

provisions  of  this  Ordinance  reflected  that  the  admission  to

medical  colleges  or  institutions  would  be  merit  based  and,

therefore, they have no quarrel with this Ordinance.   

5) After the NEET-UG results were announced on June 23, 2017,

the  Commissioner  of  Entrance  Examinations,  Government  of

Kerala (respondent No.3) issued a Press Release dated July 01,

2017  titled  ‘Admission  to  Medical  and  Allied  Courses,  Kerala

2017’, as per which the admission to the State quota seats in the

Government medical/dental colleges and the entire MBBS/BDS

seats in self financing medical/dental colleges including minority

quota/NRI quota for the academic year 2017-18 shall be through

a centralised counselling to be conducted by the Commissioner

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for  Entrance  Examinations  from the  rank  list  prepared  by  the

Commissioner based on the score of the candidates in NEET-UG

2017.  As per this press release, even the educational institutions

run  by  minorities  are  bound  to  be  part  of  the  centralised

counselling.   The  petitioners’  grievance  is  that  insofar  as  the

minority  institutions  are  concerned,  they  can  have  their  own

counselling process.

6) It  is  on  the  basis  of  the  aforesaid  pleadings  the  instant  writ

petition has been filed for  a direction or  order in the nature of

mandamus quashing press release dated July 01, 2017 issued by

the  Commissioner  for  entrance  examinations  for  admission  to

medical  and allied courses in  the State of  Kerala for  the year

2017 and for directing respondent No.2 - Directorate General of

Health Services (DGHS) to conduct admission to minority medical

institutions on All India basis.  Precise prayers which are made by

the petitioners in this behalf are reproduced below:

“(a)  Issue an appropriate writ, direction or order in the nature  of  mandamus  quashing  press  release  dated 1.7.2017  issued  by  the  Commissioner  of  Entrance Examinations  qua  admission  to  medical  &  allied courses,  Keral  2017  in  so  far  as  it  pertains  to  the Respondent State conducting the counselling process to minority Institutions;

(b)  Issue an appropriate writ, direction or order in the nature of mandamus directing the Respondent DGHS to conduct admissions to minority medical Institutions

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on an all India basis;

(c)  Issue  such  other  writ,  order  or  direction,  as deemed fit  in  the  circumstances  of  the  case in  the interest of justice.”

7) From  the  aforesaid  pleadings  and  prayers  made  in  the  writ

petition,  it  can  clearly  be  discerned  that  the  petitioners  are

aggrieved  by  Press  Release  dated  July  01,  2017  and  the

grievance is that insofar as minority institutions are concerned,

they should not be included in the counselling process that is to

be undertaken by the State.  In that hue, further prayer is that the

DGHS  should  conduction  admission  to  minority  medical

institutions on All India basis.

8) Notwithstanding  the  aforesaid  prayers,  at  the  time  of  hearing,

nothing was argued about  the validity of  Press Release dated

July 01,  2017.   On the contrary, reference was made to G.O.

(MS) No. 31/2017/H.Edn. dated January 30, 2017, issued by the

State of Kerala, whereby prospectus for admission to professional

degree courses,  including MBBS/BDS,  was approved.   Clause

6.1 of the said prospectus gives edge to the students from Kerala

and excludes, to a major extent, non-keralite students.  Details of

conditions of eligibility, etc. mentioned in clause 6.1 of the said

prospectus are as under:

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“Nativity:   Only  Indian  citizens  are  eligible  for admission  to  professional  courses  unless  otherwise notified.   Persons  of  Indian  Origin  (PIO)/Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) will also be treated at par with Indian citizens for  the limited purpose of  admission. However, PIO/OCI candidates will  not be eligible for any kind of reservation.

Candidates seeking admission to professional courses will be categorised as Keralite, Non-Keralite Category I (NK I) and Non-Keralite Category II (NK II).

(i)  Keralite:   A  candidate  of  Kerala  origin  will  be categorised as a Keralite.  Children of All India Service (AIS) officers (Non-Keralites) allotted to Kerala cadre are  demd  to  be  Keralites’  as  per  G.O.  (Rt)  No. 822/08/H.Edn. dated 29/05/2008.  But they will not be eligible  for  Communal/Special/Persons  with Disabilities reservation or any fee concession.

(ii) Non-Keralite Category I (NK I):  A candidate who is not of Kerala origin but fulfils any one of the following conditions  will  be  categorised  as  ‘Non-Keralite Category I (NK I):

(a) A candidate  who  has  undergone  qualifying course  in  Kerala  and  who  is  son/daughter  of Non-Keralite  parents belonging to Government  of India/Defence Service, posted at Kerala.

(b) A candidate  who  has  undergone  qualifying course  in  Kerala  and  who  is  son/daughter  of Non-Keralite  parents  who  are  serving/served Government of Kerala for a minimum period of two years.

(c) A candidate who is not of Kerala Origin but has been a resident of Kerala State for a period of 5 (five) years within the period of 12 (twelve) years of his/her study.

(d) A candidate who is not of Kerala Origin but who  has  undergone  his/her  school  studies  in Kerala  from  standard  VIII  to  XII.   Non-Keralite Category  I  candidates will  be  considered  against ‘State  Merit’  seats  for Engineering/Architecture/Medical  and  Allied

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courses.   But  they  will  not  be  eligible  for Communal/Special/Persons  with  Disabilities reservation or any fee concession.

(iii) Non-Keralite Catgegory II (NK II):  Candidates who do not come under Keralite’ or Non-Keralite Category I’  will  be  categorised  as  ‘Non-Keralite  Category  II’. Such  candidates  are  eligible  for  admission  to Government  seats  and  Management  quota  seats  in Engineering  courses  in  Government  Controlled  Self Financing  Colleges.   However,  the  Non-Keralite Category II (NK II) candidates will  be considered for admission  to  the  Government  seats  in  Government Controlled Self  Financing Engineering  Colleges  only when the Keralite and Non-Keralite I (NK I) candidates are  not  available  for  admission.   Non-Keralite Category  II  (NK  II)  candidates  are  also  eligible  for admission  to  Government  Seats  and  Management Quota  seats  in  Private  Self  Financing  Engineering/ Architecture  Colleges,  which  will  be  notified separately.   But  they  will  not  be  eligible  for Communal/Special/Persons  with  Disabilities reservation  or  any  fee  concession.   ‘Non-Keralite Category  II’  (NK  II)  candidates  are  not  eligible  for admission  to  Medical  and  Allied  Courses  including MBBS/BDS  and  for  admission  to  Government Engineering Colleges.

Note:  The following category of candidates will not be governed  by  clauses  (i),  (ii)  and  (iii)  above: Candidates  to  be  admitted  in  respect  of  seats reserved  for  the  nominees  of  Government  of  India, Administration  of  Union  Territory  of  Andaman  & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep Administration, Jammu & Kashmir, candidates selected through the All India quota seats for  MBBS/BDS courses and candidates sponsored under reciprocal quota by Government of Karnataka/Tamil Nadu.”

 9) As is clear from the reading of the aforesaid provision, students

seeking admission are put in three categories, namely, Keralite,

Non-Keralite Category I (NK I) and Non-Keralite Category II (NK

II).   Insofar  as  NK I  is  concerned,  though persons  mentioned

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therein who come under that category are not of Kerala origin,

they are also eligible to be considered against ‘State Merit’ seats

for  certain  courses,  including  medical  courses.  Further,  NK  II

candidates  are  totally  excluded  from  eligibility  insofar  as

admission to medical  and allied courses,  including MBBS/BDS

and  for  admission  to  Government  Engineering  Colleges  is

concerned.   It  is  this  provision  which  hits  the  petitioners  and

makes them ineligible for admission to medical courses.

10) Entire thrust of the argument of the petitioners was that the

aforesaid G.O. dated January 30, 2017, which carves out NK II

and makes them ineligible for  admission to medical  and allied

courses,  including  MBBS/BDS,  is  unconstitutional  as  it  is

discriminatory  and  violative  of  Articles  14  and  15  of  the

Constitution of India.  This document does not find a mention in

the writ petition and not even filed along with the writ petition, but

was filed as an additional document subsequent to the filing of

the  writ  petition.   In  these  circumstances,  the  preliminary

submission  which  is  raised  by  the  learned  senior  counsel

appearing  for  the  State  of  Kerala  was  that  when  there  is  no

prayer to quash the aforesaid G.O. dated January 30, 2017, it is

not permissible for the petitioners to challenge the validity of this

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notification by way of oral arguments.

We find substance in this preliminary objection raised by the

respondent State.

11) We may mention that Mr. Dushyant Dave, learned senior

counsel  appearing  for  the  petitioners,  had  made  detailed

submissions to attack the validity of the aforesaid G.O. and has

cited various judgments in support.  It may also be mentioned that

respondent No.4,  which is a minority institution,  has supported

the case of the petitioners by means of counter affidavit filed by it

and at the time of oral hearing also Mr. Huzefa Ahmadi, learned

senior  counsel  appearing  for  respondent  No.4,  made  scathing

attack on the vires of the said G.O.

12) It  may also be mentioned that the learned senior counsel

appearing  for  the  State  of  Kerala  also  advanced  detailed

arguments refuting the submissions made by the petitioners as

well as respondent No.4.  He had submitted that there is an All

India quota of 15% and in this quota students from all over India,

on the basis of their merit, were entitled to get admission in the

State run medical colleges as well as private aided and unaided

medical colleges.  He further submitted that after setting apart the

aforesaid  quota  of  15% for  students  from all  India,  it  was the

Writ Petition (Civil) No. 541 of 2017 Page 10 of 13

prerogative of the State to take students from the State of Kerala

alone in respect of the balance 85% seats as these colleges are

State  colleges  and  are  not  having  national  status.   It  was

additionally submitted that  the first  phase of  counselling to the

State  quota  seats  in  MBBS/BDS  courses  in  the  State  have

already been completed in  accordance with  the time schedule

fixed by the Medical Council of India and approved by this Court.

In  that  counselling 262 candidates belonging to NK I  category

(who  are  otherwise  non-Keralities)  are  given  admission.   The

office of the Commissioner for Entrance Examinations is heading

to the activities related to the second phase of counselling to the

MBBS/BDS courses along with other medical and allied courses

and the second round of allotment is scheduled to be published

on  August  18,  2017.   In  Kerala,  a  total  of  1044  seats  were

available  under  MBBS  course  in  nine  Government  medical

colleges  for  allotment  by  the  Commissioner  for  Entrance

Examinations.   Also  a  total  of  2050  seats  are  available  for

allotment by the Commissioner in eighteen self financing medical

colleges  in  the  State  of  which  twelve  colleges  are  minority

colleges.  Of these twelve colleges, six each belong to Christian

and Muslim minorities.  He also argued that similar provisions are

contained in other States as well, providing 15% seats/quota on

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All  India  basis  and  earmarking  85%  seats  for  the  natives.

Submission was that  the provision in  the State  of  Kerala  was

more liberal  where NK I category was carved out giving some

representation  to  non-Keralites  even  against  85%  quota.

However,  since  we  are  accepting  the  argument  of  the  State

predicated  on  the  maintainability  of  the  writ  petition,  it  is  not

necessary to deal with the submissions on merits.

13) Reverting  to  the  preliminary  objections  raised  by  the

respondent  State,  as  already  mentioned  above,  there  is  no

reference to the G.O. in the entire writ petition.  This document is

not  even  part  of  the  writ  petition.   Therefore,  there  are  no

foundational facts and/or pleadings in the writ petition challenging

this G.O. as unconstitutional.  More importantly, there is no prayer

in  the writ  petition  seeking quashing of  this  G.O.   Even when

learned  counsel  for  the  State  had  pointed  out  fundamental

infirmity  in  the  writ  petition,  no  attempt  was  made  by  the

petitioners  to  amend  the  writ  petition  so  as  to  incorporate

challenge  to  the  said  G.O.  as  well.   In  the  absence  of  any

pleadings and the prayer seeking quashing of the said G.O., it is

not permissible for the petitioners to seek a relief by making oral

submissions in this behalf.

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14) For the aforesaid reasons, we dismiss the writ petition on

the ground of maintainability only as we do not deem it necessary

to go into the issue on merits for  lack of pleadings as well  as

requisite prayers in this behalf.

No costs.

.............................................J. (A.K. SIKRI)

.............................................J. (ASHOK BHUSHAN)

NEW DELHI; AUGUST 24, 2017.

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