Himachal Pradesh High Court
Dr. Amritanshu vs . State Of H.P. & Ors. on 1 November, 2022
Bench: Amjad Ahtesham Sayed, Jyotsna Rewal Dua
Dr. Amritanshu Vs. State of H.P. & Ors.
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CWP No. 7605/202201.11.2022 Present: Mr. R.K. Bawa Sr. Advocate with Mr. Ajay Kumar Sharma, Advocate, for the petitioner.
Mr. Ajay Vaidya, Sr. Additional Advocate General, for respondent Nos.1 to 3.
Mr. Dinesh K. Thakur, Advocate, for respondent No.4- University.
Dr. Parveen Sharma (Controller of Exams) for respondent No.4-University, present in person.
CWP No. 7605/2022 & CMP No.15085/2022 Notice. Mr. Ajay Vaidya, learned Senior Additional Advocate General and Mr. Dinesh K. Thakur, learned counsel, appear and waive service of notice on behalf of respondent Nos.1 to 3 and 4, respectively.
2. Heard, learned counsel for the parties.
3. Petitioner's contention is that the respondents have not adhered to the roster during first round of counselling for admission to the post-graduate courses (MD/MS/DNB) in the colleges of the State. Her specific contention is that in the faculty of Oto-rhino-laryangology (ENT) roster point No.14 meant for General Duty Officer (in-service candidate) belonging to Scheduled Caste category has actually been filled from a direct Scheduled Caste category candidate during first round of counselling. This has been done in spite of fact that the petitioner, a General Duty Officer candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste category was available in the ::: Downloaded on - 02/11/2022 20:35:21 :::CIS merit list. It has also been contended that the petitioner was a single girl child and as such even otherwise was required to .
be allocated a seat in accordance with the provisions of the prospectus. Reliance in this regard has been placed on following clauses of the prospectus:-
"5.1(i) to (v) .............
5.1(vi) One seat each in Govt. Medical College has been reserved for Single Girl Child category as per approval conveyed by the Government vide letter No.HFW-B(B) 12-4/2013-loose dated 11.10.2017.
The reservation will be provided to single girl child in the following manner:-
5.1 (vii) If, single girl child category candidate stands in General Combined Merit list then she can opt for any seat that falls under general category points by virtue of her general combined merit. In that event point of general category will be treated exhausted. If, single girl child category candidate does not stand in the general combined merit, in that event last seat of general category of the concerned government Medical College which will be available during the Counselling shall be allotted to the single girl child to maintain the reservation to single girl child.
5(viii) Definition of Single Girl Child:
Single Girl Child means parents having a single girl child without any sibling subject to fulfillment of eligibility criteria as prescribed for State Quota seats, under this, category, the candidate has to produce to a certificate as per Appendix-6."
4. Dr. Parveen Sharma (Controller of Exams) Atal Medical and Research University H.P. remained present in the Court and has explained the working of roster and ::: Downloaded on - 02/11/2022 20:35:21 :::CIS allocation of seats during the first round of counselling. It has been submitted that there has been no deviations from the .
roster. The respondents had carried out counselling strictly in terms of 40 point running roster. On the basis of this roster, options of candidates as per their category wise merit were considered for allocating available seats to them in different faculties and colleges. Every roster point has been matched with availability of that category seat in the roster and in the colleges. A candidate has right to get admission in particular specialization, if as per his category merit & preference, the seat is available in the college. The candidate will not get specific branch, if his choice does not match with the seats available in that category. Once a particular seat is alloted on a particular roster point then that roster point gets exhausted.
5. It has been further submitted by the respondents that in case of petitioner, in order of her merit, she could not get the seat in Oto-rhino-laryangology at 14th roster point. This is because of operation of the roster. By way of an example, it was explained by Dr. Parveen Sharma, that the merit list of Scheduled Caste category was prepared separately. First roster point (Roster Point No.28) in the 40 point running roster fell to the specialty of Anatomy and was meant for an in-
service candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste category.
One Sh. Amit Kumar at rank No.1 of Scheduled Caste category was considered against this roster point. He gave ::: Downloaded on - 02/11/2022 20:35:21 :::CIS his first option in the faculty of General Surgery. Seat was available in the faculty of General Surgery for the in-service .
candidate belonging to Scheduled Caste category. So Sh.
Amit Kumar, who was considered at roster point No.28 (1 st point in 40 point running roster) in faculty of Anatomy for a seat belonging to in-service Scheduled Caste Category candidate, was actually allocated the seat in General Surgery meant for in-service Scheduled Caste applicant. In this way, the Roster Point No.28 in faculty of Anatomy was exhausted.
In similar manner all other roster points in different faculties were filled up based on the order of merit of candidates, the options exercised by them & availability of the opted seats in the colleges. It was submitted that in similar manner, for filling up roster point No.14 in the faculty of ENT, option of eligible General Duty Officer (Scheduled Caste category candidate) in order to his category wise merit was considered. That candidate opted for a different faculty. Eventually, the seat at roster point No.14 in ENT was accordingly filled up. The respondents submitted that in previous years also, the roster was maintained & operated in this manner.
6. From the above submissions, prima-facie it appears that the respondents have adhered to the 40 point running roster during counselling. Allocation of particular seat in a particular faculty to a particular candidate will inter-alia depend on who are above in merit to that candidate in the ::: Downloaded on - 02/11/2022 20:35:21 :::CIS category wise merit list, the options exercised by those higher ranking candidates, allocation of seats to them, exhaustion of .
roster points, the availability of seats in college etc. At this stage, it appears that the roster points meant for candidates belonging to different categories have been filled up by the respondents by considering the candidates from that very category in order of their merit. After taking into consideration the options exercised by them, the seats have been allocated to them keeping in view the availability of seats as per their options. Specific roster point in question in the present petition has been exhausted by the respondents during first round of counselling. Insofar as the claim of the petitioner to a seat for single girl child is concerned, we prima-facie agree with the submissions of the respondents that in view of specific provisions in the prospectus, allocation of seat to single girl child can be made & considered only after second round of counselling. Hence, presently no case for grant of interim relief for staying the second round of counselling is made out. We have also been apprised that time is of essence for completion of counselling. In the interest of justice, we, however, order that the counselling being conducted by the respondents shall be subject to the final outcome of the instant petition.
As prayed for, reply to the petition be filed by the respondents within two weeks.
::: Downloaded on - 02/11/2022 20:35:21 :::CISList on 19.11.2022.
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( A.A. Sayed ) Chief Justice ( Jyotsna Rewal Dua ) Judge 01st November, 2022(Rohit) r to ::: Downloaded on - 02/11/2022 20:35:21 :::CIS