Judgment sc-s-2001-2-79-117

A further, for we are not joining any issue with the Academic Committee, which is entitled to our esteem for its expertise, we record our disagreement with the Academic Committee. Yet for the present, and until a better alternative is found out, we do not deem it proper to strike down the proposal of the Academic Committee of AII MS as incorporated in the affidavit of the Director B dated 11.4.200 I in its entirely and we are inclined to sustain the same with some modifications.

The End Result:

The following directions in our opinion will meet the ends of justice:-

c (I) The institutional reservation for AIIMS candidates is declared ultra vires the Constitution and, hence, is struck down. (2) By way of institutional preference the institutional caooidates i.e., those who have graduated from t~e institute shall be preferred for admission against 25% seats available to open category candidates and not 25% seats disciplinewise out of the total post- graduate seats for AllMS undergraduates as suggested by the Academic Committee.

(3) An uniform minimum cut-off of 50% marks in the competitive entrance test as a conditio~ of eligibility for all candidates may be adopted subject to further rider (I) that the last student to qualify for admission as AIIMS graduate cannot be one who has secured marks at the common entrancP. P.G. testless than the one secured by any other candidates belonging to a reserved category enjoying constitutional protection such as SC, ST etc., and (II) that the margin of difference between the qualifying marks for lnstitute's candidates shall not be too wide with the one for general .. category candidate.

(4) Any seat left vacant out of the preferential seats of AIIMS

G graduates consequent upon the abovesaid directions, shall be diverted to and made available for open general category .candidates. - (5) The preference for institute candidates to the extent of 25% as abovesaid shall remain confined to admission in P.G. course of · study. There shall be no further reservation in the matter of allotment of seats disciplineswise which allotment shall be made solely on the basis of merit out of a common list drawn up pursuant

A.l.l.M.S. STUDEJ\lTS UNION v. A.1.1.M.S. [R.C. LAHOTI, J.) 117

to the result of common entrance examination placing the selected candidates strictly as per their ranking.

So we drop the curtain on the controversy for the present. Before parting it is necessary to place on record certain observations by way of classifica:ions lest our judgment should be misunderstood or misapplied. Our judgment shall not come in the way of the Academic Committee or any other competent body of experts devising a better alternative scheme of admissions to the post-graduate level of study i~ the Institute which may revise and further scale down the reservation or preference by giving more weight to merit and excellence. We have not touched and not dealt with other reservation made by the Institute and therefore our judgment is not an implied approval of other reservations as to which we have grave doubts if they would be sustainable if challenged and we do not say any more as the present case does not provide an occasion for testing the validity of other reservations. Further, this judgment of ours shall not have the effect of invalidating such admissions as have already been given. The directions made hereinabove shall operate for future, i.e., today onwards. The appeals are disposed of in terms of the directions made hereinabove. No order as to the costs.

S.V.K. Appeals disposed of.