Admission not to be Denied without Concrete Reason

Dinesh Pareek vs. State of Rajasthan and Ors.

Filed under: Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995
Article 14 of the Constitution of India
Appellant: Dinesh Pareek
Respondent: State of Rajasthan and Ors
Citation: RLW 2005 (1) Raj 289
Court: In the High Court of Rajasthan
Judges: Sunil Kumar Garg

Facts

Dinesh Pareek was a person with orthopedic disability. He had completed his B.Sc Chemistry from B.R. Mirdha Post Graduate College Nagaur with first class marks. Further, he had applied for M.Sc in the same college. However, his application was rejected.

Dinesh claimed that the State Government and the Director of College Education had made, an admission policy according to which a candidate had to possess minimum of 55% marks to qualify for M.Sc and that since he had first class marks, he was eligible for admission.

Further, there was also 3% reservation for disabled students in the admission policy.

His claim was also that since he was in Jammu, his father had applied for payment of fees when the merit list for admission was put up on the notice board. The Principal however, cancelled his application.

Therefore, Dinesh filed this Writ Petition, seeking appropriate orders firstly, to quash the admission list finalized by the Principal of the College for admission in M.Sc Chemistry for the academic session 2003-2004 and secondly, to restore the admission application form, which was cancelled with the direction that the college would admit Dinesh for the same year without any delay.

Arguments made on behalf of Dinesh Pareek

It was argued on his behalf that denial of right to admission was arbitrary and violative of Articles 14 & 21 of the Constitution of India and infringed his fundamental rights guaranteed under the Constitution.

Arguments made on behalf of the Education Department and the College

It was argued that the admission was denied to him since he had not provided the necessary certificates within the prescribed period and therefore, his admission was cancelled. It was further stated that the seat reserved for the disabled had been filled up by the next in rank in the general category as per the admission policy.

Observations of the Court

After considering all the facts and circumstances of the case, the Court observed that the only question that was to be considered was whether the canceling of the application was a right.

The Court held that Dinesh had fulfilled all other formalities except for one, and that the order was passed arbitrarily without explaining the situation to him. It was found that when the college found that certain formalities haven’t been fulfilled, it should have issued some notices so that Dinesh could have completed the formalities.

Though Dinesh’s father was present all along they failed to inform him. In this regard, the Court also pointed on the adamancy of the college authorities to give admission to the other students in the general category.

Since the academic session had already commenced and that Dinesh would not be able to follow the studies during current session, the Court directed the college to admit him in the next academic year.

Sections Referred:

  • Article 14 & 21 of the Constitution of India

Cases Referred:

  • State of Punjab vs. Bhagwant Singh and Ors., AIR 1985 SC 981