STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: A Division Bench of State High Court comprising Chief Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice Dhiraj Singh Thakur on Friday observed that the candidates other than Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes must secure 50 per cent marks in the entrance examination for qualifying for admission to PG Degree/Diploma in Medical Courses.
The DB issued the direction after rejecting the Letters Patent Appeal (LPA) filed by doctors for quashing the counselling dated 5th April 2015 for provisional admission to PG/MS/PG Diploma and MD Courses, 2015 and for direction to select the appellants under the Rural Service Category by applying 40 per cent qualifying marks in the Entrance for PG/MS/PG Diploma and MD Courses.
The appellants applied for admission to PG/MS/PG Diploma and MD Courses, 2015 in terms of notification dated 8th January 2015 by the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examination (BOPEE). Their claim was that having served for a minimum period of five years in rural areas as Medical Officers, they constitute a reserved category and are required to obtain only 40 per cent of minimum marks in the Entrance Examination and not 50 per cent marks as prescribed for the Open Merit Category candidates for selection to PG/MS/PG Diploma and MD Courses 2015-16. The appellants have appeared in the Entrance Examination and they have secured above 40 per cent marks, however, below 50 per cent marks. In the notification it was stated that selection of candidates will be governed by the J and K Board of Professional Entrance Examination Rules, 2014, J and K Reservation Act, 2004, J and K Reservation Rules, 2005 and the guidelines as published in the Prospectus 2015-16.
Division Bench after considering the submission of both the sides observed that point to consider in these appeals is whether the appellants are justified in contending that their minimum marks in written test (eligibility) should be fixed as 40 per cent for admission to PG Degree/ Diploma in Medical Courses for 2015-16 and it is not in dispute as the appellants are not claiming the benefit of reservation either under SC/ST or OBC. All the appellants are rural service candidates having obtained certificates from the Directorate of Health and Family Welfare and they have also applied for admission to the seats allocated under the open merit category, namely, 65 per cent and rural service candidates 10 per cent. Admittedly, the appellants have not secured 50 per cent and above marks in the qualifying written examination. The grievance as focused by senior counsel appearing for the appellants is that the appellants having applied also for 10 per cent of the seats under Rural Service Candidates which is titled as one of the reserved categories in terms of the prospects, the minimum marks prescribed for reserved categories, namely, 40 per cent, alone can be taken as a criteria for their provisional selection. Clause 5(I) and 5(II) of the prospects are relevant for deciding the issue.
Division Bench further observed that as per Note III of Clause-6, the category wise distribution of seats is also mentioned which states that 65 per cent (177 seats) are reserved for open merit category and 35 per cent (94 seats) are reserved for reserved categories, of which 10 per cent comes to Rule 13 to 16 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reservation Rules, 2005.
With these observations Division Bench held that the candidates other than Scheduled Caste/ Scheduled Tribe and Other Backward Classes, must secure 50 per cent marks in the Entrance Examination for qualifying themselves for admission to the PG Degree/Diploma in Medical Courses and upheld the decision of the Single Judge. Senior Advocate Z.A Shah with Advocate A. Hanan appeared for the appellants while Advocate G.A Lone represented the BOPEE. JNF