Holding

The State's classification of villages as socially and educationally backward for the purpose of rectifying regional imbalance is arbitrary and invalid, and admissions made under that classification are quashed.

Summary

The petitioners, who were denied admission to the MBBS courses of the Government Medical Colleges in Srinagar and Jammu for 1980‑81, challenged the State's reservation policy that earmarked 17% of seats for "rectification of regional imbalances" by classifying certain villages as socially and educationally backward. The Supreme Court held that the classification was arbitrary, lacked intelligible data and could not be sustained under Article 15(4) of the Constitution, rendering the reservation invalid. Consequently, admissions made on that basis were quashed and the seats were to be filled on open merit. The Court did not strike down the 30% weight given to the viva voce test, though it suggested a revision, and it rejected the contention that the presence of a government official or the temporary absence of a committee member vitiated the selection. Applications filed after the prescribed deadline were upheld because the qualifying examination results were delayed, and the State was permitted to consider those candidates.

Issues considered

The validity of the classification of villages as socially and educationally backward for reservation under the "rectification of regional imbalance" clause of Article 15(4).
Whether the classification is arbitrary and violative of the equality principle.
Whether assigning 30% of total marks to the viva voce test is unreasonable and unconstitutional.
Whether the limited time (2‑4 minutes) allotted to each viva voce interview renders the weightage excessive.
Whether the inclusion of a government official in the selection committee is prohibited by law.
Whether the intermittent absence of a committee member invalidates the selection process.
Whether admission of candidates who applied after the deadline is permissible when the qualifying exam results were delayed.
Whether the Indian Medical Council regulations permit the use of an objective test and viva voce, and limit reservations to SC/ST only.

Legislation cited

Constitution of Indias. Article 15(4), s. Article 31
Indian Medical Council Act, 1956s. 19A, s. 33

Subjects

reservationregional imbalancesocial backwardnessequalityArticle 15viva vocemedical college admissionarbitrary classificationIndian Medical Council regulations

Judgment

34

A ARTI SA-PRU
v.
STATE OF JAMMU AND KASHMIR & OTHERS
February 27, 1981

[R.S. PATHAK AND 0. CHlNNAPPA REDDY, JJ.J
B
Admission to medical college-Government Notification No. 41-G.R· of 1980
dated 24th September, 1980 purporting to identify certain villages as socially and
educationally backward.for applying the pri11ciple nf"rectification of imbalance in
different parts of the S1ate"-W/1ether the classification is wholly arbitrary a11d
without any foundatio11 to sustain ir and conseque111/y the criteria adopted in
grallfing admission to the M.B.B.S. course is discriminatory, unreasonable and

c void-When viva voce test lasts between two to four minutes, whether allotment
of 30% of total marks is patently unreasonable and arbitrary-Whether accepting
applications beyond the time prescribed on the [!round that qualifying examination
in which the applicant appeared was held late and the results were announced
after the date prescribed for submitting the applications, bad in law.

Regulationsframed by the Indian Medical Council under section 33 read with
section T9A oft he I11dian Medical Council Act, 1956, whether Ito/ding viva voce
D examination and assigning 30% of the total marks in it is in violation of Article 31
of the Constitution-Whether the presence of a Government official 011 the Selection
Committee in the viva vore test is obnoxious to law.

Selection of candidates to be admitted to M.B.B,S. course in the Medical
College of the State of Jammu & Kashmir was made by a Selection Committee
on the basis of (a) merit in qualifyin.g examination (35_ marks) (b) an objective
E test (35 marks) and (c) a viva voce test (30 marks). The seats were distributed
besides the examination base was determined by a distribution of the seats into
three distinct divisions namely, (i) 60% on the basis of open merit ; (ii) 20% on
the basis of reservation for scheduled castes and other reserved categories, one
of which was broadly described as "socially and educationally backward classes"
which included candidates from (a) areas adjoining actual line of control and
(b) areas known as "bad pockets", including Ladhak and (iii} 20% were reserved
as seats to be.filled "on the basis of inter se merit to ensure rectification of
F imbalance in the admission for various parts of the State, if any, so as to give
equitable and uniform treatment to those parts". )··
In Nishi Maghu v. State of Jammu and Kashmir, (1980) 3 S.C.R. 1253, the
Supreme Court held that the selections made under the third category were
invalid, inasmuch as the classification made for rectification of regional imbalance
without identifying the areas suffering 'from imbalance was vague.
G
The Stale Government, therefore, published Notification No. 41 G.R. of 1980
dated 24th September, 1980 purporting to identify certain villages as socially and
educationally backward for applying the principle of "rectification of imbalance
in different parts of the States" and reduced the distribution of seats in the
Medical Colleges of the State under this category from 18 to 17% under this
H ·category. This order is challenged by the petitioner, an unsuccessful candidate
in the selection made for admission to M.B.B.S. course.for the year 1980-81.
ART! SAPRU V. J. AND K. 35

Allowing the petitions, the Court A
HELD: I. The classification attempted by the State Government by its order
dated 24th September, 1980 suffers from tbe vice of arbitrariness and is, therefore,
invalid. There was no intelligible data before the Court for sustaining the classifica-
tion. No doubt the State Government had acted in its own wisdom, but the
material to which that wisdom was applied was not disclosed at all. The fact by
itself that some hundreds of villages had been brought within the classification is B
of no assistance whatever. That a comprehensive understanding of regional
imbalances from the Anand Committee report and the Sikri Commission report
had not been possible yet affords no justification for an arbitrary classification.
The State failed to bring the case within Article 15(4) of the Constitution.
[39 G; 40 DJ

State of U.P. v. Pradip Tandon, [1975] 2 S.C.R. 761 applied.
c
2 : I. There is need to revise the marks ratio for the viva voce test because
of the very real risk future selections would face on this score. The Government
would also do well to ensure that Selection Committees take care to devote
sufficient time to the oral interview of individual candidates having regard to the
several relevant considerations which must enter into their judgment respecting
each candidate. [41 D & G]
D
A. Peeriakaruppan, etc. v. State of Tamil Nadu and Ors., [1971] 2 S.C.R.
430 ; Nishi Maghu v. State of Jammu and Kashmir, [1980] 3 S.C.R. 1253;
Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujib, [1981] 2 S.C.R. 79, referred to.

2: 2. The selection cannot be said to _be vitiated on the ground that one
of the members, Shri Kunda!, left after some time and therefore the composition
of the Interview Cgmmittee varied from time to time, since three out of four E
members remained present throughout the proceedings and a proportionately
small number only of the candidates was interviewed when Shri Kunda! was
present. [ 42 D-E]

2 : 3. The appointment of a Government official as a member of the
Selection Committee is not obnoxious to the law. There is no principle of law
disqualifying a Government official from participating on the Interview Com- F
----\ mittee merely because he is a Government official. It cannot be said that a
Government official cannot be a person of high integrity, calibre and qualifica-
tions. The constitution of a Committee lies in the wisdom of the State
Government and it is expected men suitably qualified in every respect will be
appointed to discharge the functions of the Committee. So long as the . State
Government acts boQa fide it cannot be said that the presence of a Government
official on the Selection Committee vitiates its constitution. [44H, 45 A-Bl
G
2 : 4. Selection of a number of candidates, in the present -case, cannot be
said to have been made because of favouritism on account of relationship or
friendship with members of the Selection Committee or because they were related
to important and influential persons in the State. Besides being sketchy and
extremely vague, such allegations have been made for the first time in the rejoinder
affidavit and there has been no reasonable opportunity to the respondents to H
reply to them. [42 F]
36 SUPREME COURT ~J;JPORTS [198!] 3 S.C.R.

A 3. The grant of admission to respondents Nos. 7 to 12, in the instant case
is in order, inasmuch as the relevant qualifying examination was held ]ate and th~
anno~ncement of. the results was delayed. The State Government correctly
permitted the candidature of these applicants to be considered for inclusion in a
common list drawn up to cover can~idates for admission to either of the
Government Medical Colleges, at Srinagar and at Jammu. Even according to
petitioner those respondents have an excellent record and if they had applied in
B time for admission in the Government College at Srinagar they would certainly
have been'admitted on the basis of their meri.t. [42G-H]
'
4. A competitive entrance examinat,ion is permissible in law in addition to
the qualifying examination. Jn regard to the sufficiency of the objectiw test,
the absence of a prescribed formal curriculum does not vitiate the objective test.
[44 F]
c 5. A reading of the regulations framed by the Indian Medical Council
under section 33 read with section 19A of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956
makes it clear that the reservation permissible need not necessarily be confined to
scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. [44 .E]

ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition Nos. 5600, 5601, 5615,
5689-5697 and 6283-6307/1980.
D (Under Article 32 of the Constitµtion)
Soli J. Sorabjee, O.N. Tikk~, ·.E.C. Aggarwala, M.L. Bhatt, R.
Satish, and V.K. Pandita for the Petitioners in W.Ps. 5600-01,5615&
5689-97/80. ' '
M. K. Ramamurthy, Miss R. Vaigai, Joginder Singh and J.
E Ramamurty for the Petitioners in WPs. 6283-6307/80.
S.N. Kacker and A/taf' Ahmed for the Respondents in all the l
Writ Petitions.

The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

PATHAK J. The petitioner challenges the admission of a number
F of candidates to the M.B.B.S. course in the Government Medical
College Srinagar for the session I 980-81. The petitioner, who had
also applied for admission, was denied it. She contends that the
criteria adopted in granting admission is discriminatory, unreasonable
and void.
G The Principal, Government Medical College, Srinagar invited
applications by 3rd April, 1980 for admission to the M.B.B.S. cours~
for the session 1980-81, and the notice specified the qualifying
examinations of the Board of Secondary Education, Kashmir, or
any other equivalent Board or University which constituted the
H basis of eligibility. The manner and procedure governing the
eligibility for admission had been set forth in a Government order
ARTI SAPRU v. J. AND K. (Pathak, J.) 37

of 3rd April, 1978, which laid down that a Selection Committee con- A
stituted by the Government would determine the inter se merit of
eligible candidates on the basis of an interview for judging their
(a) physical fitness, (b) personality, (c) aptitude, (d) general know-
ledge and (e) general intelligence. This Government order was
modified by a subsequent Government order dated 23rd June, 1980
and in the result eligible candidates were now required to appear not B
only in the· viva voce examination but also in an objective test. These
two tests along with merit in the qualifying examination of the
Board or University constituted the three elements which together
combined to form a basis for Selection. The qualifying exammation
carried 35 marks, the objective test was allotted 35 marks and the
viva voce examination was assigned 30 marks. c
Besides the examination base constituted by the aforesaid three
criteria, the selection was also determined by a distribution of the
seats into three distinct divisions. Of the total number of seats 50%
were earmarked for being filled on the basis of open merit, 25%were
reserved for candidates from Scheduled Castes and other reserved D
categories, one of which was broadly described as "socially and
educationlly backward classes'' and included candidates from (a)
areas adjoining actual line of control, and (b) area known as bad
pockets including Ladhak. After selection had been made as above
the remaining 25% of the seats were to be filled "on the basis of
inter se merit to ensure rectification of imbalance in the admission E
for the State, if any, so as to give equitable and uniform treatment
to those parts". It was also recited that in case there was no "visible
imbalance", the seats earmarked under that head were to be distribu-
ted among further "open merit" candidates. On 27th June, 1974,
the percentage of seats reserved for the different categories was re-
fixed, so that 60% of the seats were now earmarked for admission F
on the basis of "open merit", 20% for distribution among candi-
dates from the Scheduled Castes and other reserved categories

,
including socially and educationally backward classes, and the
remaining 20% of the seats were earmarked for "ensuring rectifi-
cation of imbalances". Still another order dated 21st April, 1976
reduced the reservation for removing regional imbalances from 20% G
to 18%.
The selection of candidates for admission to the Government
Medical College, Jammu for the academic year 1979-80 was challen-
ged in this Court in Nishi Maghu v. State of Jammu and Kashmir( 1)
H
(1) [1980] 3 S.C.R. 1253.
38 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1981] 3 S.C.N.

A and the Court held that "the classification made for rectification
of regional imbalance without identifying the areas suffering from
imbalance was vague and the selections made under that head were
accordingly invalid'". The Court directed that the seats reserved
under that head should be added to the quota of seats earmarked
for selection on the basis of merit and filled accordingly.
B
Thereafter, in an attempt to remove the deficiency pointed out
by this Court in Nishi Maghu (supra), the State Government publi-
shed Notification No. 41-GR of 1980 dated 24th September, 1980
purporting to identify certain villages as socially and educationally
backward for applying the principle of "rectification of imbalance
c in different parts of the State". A long schedule (covering over 60
pages of the record before us) was annexed and listed some
hundreds of villages.

About the same. time, a Government order was issued fixing
17% of the seats in the M.B.B.S course of the medical colleges of
D the State as the admission quota for the purpose of "rectification of
imbalances."
From 14th to 17th July, 1980, as many as 660 candidates were
interviewed by a Committee at Srinagar by way of viva voce exami-
nation. On 21st July, 1980 the State Government issued a directive
that a total list of J25 candidates be prepared against all the seats
E of the two Government Medical Colleges, at Srinagar and at Jammu.
A Selection List was finalised taking into account the reservations
made for various categories and classes by the different Government
orders, and was published on 29th September, 1980, and the names
of 75 candidates were announced for admission to the M.B.B.S.
course to the Govenment Medical College, Srinagar.
F
The principal contention of Mr. Soli Sorabjee appearing for
the petitioner in Writ Petition No. 5600 of J980, is that not with

,
standing this brave attempt to meet the constitutional requirement
indicated in Nishi Maghu (supra) the State Government has
failed in its purpose. Tt is urged that there was no material .
G before the State Government affording a pertinent basis for
classifying these villages. It is pointed out that almost whole
tehsils of different districts have been identified as socially and
educationally backward, 'bad pockets' and areas belonging to
the line of actual control have been included and in the result
H with more than 95 per cent of the villages classified as socially
and educationally backward, the inference must be that almost all
/

ART! SAPRU v. J. AND K. (Pathak, J.) 39

of Kashmir Division calls for a reservation quota. It is asserted A
that a portion of Srinagar city, which includes Sangin Darwaza and
Bhagwanpure, has also been identified as socially and educationally
backward. To that class have also been added towns where Notified
Area Committees exist. The submission is that the classification is
wholly arbitrary and without any foundation to sustain it. The
mere circumstance, it is urged, that the classification is defined on B·
the basis of villages without anything more demonstrates its uncon-
stitutional character.
The case of the State Government is that the classification fully
satisfies the criterion "social and educational backwardness". In
proof of the assertion it is pointed out that the present selection
--~
, shows that candidates from areas not included in this classified
c
category have taken 66 seats out of 75 on the basis of open merit.
.+· It is conceded that a large number of villages have been included
in the classification, but it is pointed out that the greater bulk of the
population resides in the two cities of Srinagar and Jammu alone
and would be equivalent to the population of hundreds of villages
D
taken together. The classification is supported by the consideration
that in the nature of things the in habitants of the rural areas are
socially. and educationally backward. It is urged that merely
because some of the villages are administered by Notified Area Com-
mittees does not remove the stigma of backwardness. It is admitted
E
that two reports, popularly described as the Anand Committee
report and the Sikri Commission report, are under consideration by
the Government but, it is said, as a comprehensive appreciation of
the situation disclosed by the two reports of all the aspects of social
and educational backwardness in the State has not been made yet,
the Government has proceeded "in its own wisdom" to identify
F
the areas suffering from regional imbalance.
·J.., We are of opinion that the classification attempted by the State
) Government by its order dated 24th September, 1980 suffers from
the vice of arbitrariness and must be declared invalid. There is no
intelligible data before us for sustaining the classification. No doubt
the State Government has acted in its own wisdom, but the material G
to which that wisdom was applied has not been disclosed at all. The
fact by itself that some hundreds of villages have been brought with-
in the classification is of no assistance whatever.
Over six years ago, this Court in State of U.P. v. Pradip Tandon(1)
ruled that in the matter of admission of students to medical colleges
H
(1) [ 1975] 2 S.C.R. 761.
40 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1981] 3 S.C.R.

A a reservation in favour of candidates on the ground that they hailed
from rural areas was unconstitutional. The Court repelled the argu-
ment that it was necessary to reserve seats for candidates from rural
areas because they were handicapped in the matter of education. It
also rejected the plea that as the number of marks obtained by can-
B didates from rural areas in the qualifying test were much lower than
the marks obtained by the general candidates that was an indication
of the farmer's educational backwardness. Ray, C.J., speaking for
the Court, observed :

"The reservation for rural areas cannot be sustained on
the ground that the rural areas represent socially and educa-
c tionally backward classes of citizens. This reservation appears
to be made for the majority population of the State 80 per
cent of the population of the State cannot be a homogeneous ··-+-
class. Poverty in rural areas cannot be the basis of classification
to support reservation for rural areas."

D The criterion adopted by the State Government cannot be accep-
ted unless supported by other relevant considerations. That a
comprehensive understanding of regional imbalances from the Anand
Committee report and the Sikri Commission report has not been
possible yet affords no justification for an arbitrary classification.
E We are not satisfied that the State Government has succeeded in
bringing the case within Article 15 (4) of the Constitution. The
material before us is woeful,ly inadequate and fails to sufficiently sup-
port the validity of the classification. We are of opinion that the
order of the State Government dated 24th September, 1980 must be
declared invalid.
F
The next contention on behalf of the petitioner is that the
allocation to the viva voce test of 30 per cent of the total marks is
patently unreasonable and arbitrary. Our attention has been drawn
to the observations of this Court in Ajay Hasia v. Khalid Mujrb(1)
where an allocation of more than 15 per cent of the total marks for
the · oral interview was regarded as arbitrary and unreasonable and
liable to be struck down as constitutionally invalid. It seems to us
that the State Government would have done well to apply its mind
seriously to the evaluation ratio between the three criteria adopted
for admission. When the Government order of 23 rd June, 1980
dividing the total marks between the three criteria was issued, there
H
(J) [1981] 2 S.C.R. 79.
ART! SAPRU v. J. AND K. (Pathak, J.) - 41

was ample evidence of the principle and practice adopted by examin- A
ing bodies of high repute and status in the country. The marks
ratio adpoted by the Union Public Service Commission provided wise
example. Besides, almost 10 years before this Court in A. Peeria-
karuppan, etc. v. State of Tamil Nadu & Ors.(1) had expressed its
disapproval of the ear-marking of 75 marks for the· interview test
out of 275 marks. And before the selection procees was taken in B
the present case this Court had already observed in Nishi M:ighu
(supra) that reserving 50 marks for the interview out of 'a total of
150 marks appeared excessive, especially when the time spent was
not more than 4 minutes on each candidate. This precisely is what
happened here, because on the case of the State Government itself
·~·
the average time devoted to the oral interview of each candidate c
was 4 minutes. However, we are reluctant to interfere on this ground
because a clear pronouncement that an allocation of more than 15%
of the total marks to the viva voce examination would result in con-
stitutional invalidity has been made only recently, in Ajay Rasia
(supra), by this Court and that was after the selection process in the
present case had already been taken. We would prefer to impress D
on the State Government tliat there is need to revise the marks ratio
because of the very real risk future selections will face on this
score.

The next contention for the petitioner is that having regard to
the number of candidates interviewed and the time applied to con-
E
ducting the interview no more than two minutes or so could have
been given on the average to the oral interview of each candidate, a
period demonstrating, in the submission of learned counsel, that the
selection process was conducted in a perfunctory manner and there
was no real application of the mind to the.selection of candidates.
The State Government maintains that the time spent was four
F
minutes per candidate'. We have given the matter our anxious con-
sideration, and we are unable to hold.that there is adequate material
for striking down the selection on this ground. But_ here again the
State Government would do well to note the observations made by
this Court in Ajay Rasia (supra) in this matter, and to ensure that
G
Selection Committees take care to devote sufficient time to the oral
interview. of individual candidates having regard to the several rela-
vant considerations which must enter into their judgment respecting
each candidate.

H
(J) (1971] 2 S.C.R. 430.
42 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [1981) 3 S.C.R.

A We are also told by the petitioner that the composition of the
Interview Committee varied from time to time during the interviews.
Therefore, it is said, the selection stands vitiated. It is alleged that
while one member, Shri N.S. Pathania, Principal, Medical College,
Jammu joined the Committee some time after the interviews had
begun, another member, Shri B.R. Kunda!, Deputy Commissioner,
B Udhampur was present during a part of the proceedings only and
left thereafter. In regard to Shri N.S. Pathania, it is not possible
to say that his joining with a slight delay has materially affected the
validity of the proceedings. And as regards Shri Kunda!, it appears
that he was present on the I 4th July, I 980 and according to the
petitioner, left on the morning of the next day. It will be noticed
that all the members of the Committee except Shri Kunda! were per-
sons closely associated with medical educatfon. Shri B.R. Kunda!
was Deputy Commissioner of Udhampur. We also do not know what
was the mode ,of functioning employed by the Committee, whether
it was such as to invalidate the proceedings if one of the members
ex necessitas, was unable to participate throughout in them. The
D respondents maintain that at least three out of four members remain·
ed present throughout the proceedings. And according to the
petitioner, a proportionately small number only of the candidates
was interviewed when Shri Kunda! was present. In all the circum-
stances, we find it difficult to say that Shri Kundal's absence from
the Committee vitiated its proceedings.
E
Shri Soli Sorabjee then contends that a number of candidates
were selected for admission because of favouritism on account of Y
relationship or friendship with members of the Selection Committee
er because they were related to important and influential persons
in the State. The allegations have for the most part been made
F for the first time in the rejoinder affidavit and there has been
no reasonable opportunity to the respondents to reply to them. Such
allegations on this point as are contained in the writ petition are
extremely vague and sketchy, and can form no basis for a finding in
favour of the petitioner.

- G There is one more contention, and that is that the respondents
Nos. 7 to 12 did not apply for admission to the Principal, Govern-
ment Medical College, Srinagar, and even if they are found to have
done so their applications must have been submitted beyond the
time prescribed as the qualifying examination in which they appeared
H was held late and the results were announced after the date prescri-
bed for submitting the applications at Srinagar had expired. lt
ARTI SAPRU 'v. J. AND K. (Pathak, J.) 43

appears from the record before us that inasmuch as the relevant A
examination was held late and the announcement of the results was
delayed the State Government permitted the candidature of these
applicants to be considered for inclusion in a common list drawn
up to cover candidates for admission to either of the Government
Medical Colleges, at Srinagar and at Jammu. Besides, it is conceded
by the petitioner that those respondents have an excellent record B
and if they had applied in time for admission to the Government
Medical College, Srinagar, they would certainly have been admitteti
on the basis of their merit. In the circumstances, we do not propose
to interfere with the grant of admission to those respondents.

Accordingly, the only relief which, in our judgment, should be c
awarded to the petitioner is the quashing of admissions granted irt
the quota reserved for rectifying regional imbalances. In consequence,
those seats must be filled up on the basis of open merit.

Writ Petitions Nos. 560 I of 1980, 5615 and 5689 to 5697 of
1980, which proceed on the same lines as Writ Petition No. 5600 of D
1980, must be disposed of in like manner.

The remaining cases, Writ Petitions Nos. 6283 to 6307 of 1980,
fall in a separate category. The petitioners here challenge the
selection of candidates for admission to the M B.B.S. course in the
Government Medical College, Jammu for the year 1980-81; and
complain of the denial of admission to them. The facts on which. E
these writ petitions have been brought and the grounds on which they
claim relief are substantially the same as in Writ Petition .No. 5600
of 1980. Indeed, Shri M.K. Ramamurthi, learned counsel for the
petitioners, states at the outset that he adopts the submissions urged
in that case against the validity of the admissions granted for the
purpose of rectification of regional imbalances, in regard to the F
invalidity alleged by the assigning of 30% marks to the viva voce
examination and also in regard to the legal effect on the interview
proceedings of the absence of some members of the Selection Com-
mittee during part of the proceedings. These pofots have bee11
considered and disposed of by us in that writ petition, and those
findings are of equal validity in these writ petitions also. G

Besides this, learned counsel for the petitioners raises other con-
tentions. He urges that the selections made are not in accordance
with the Regulations framed by the Indian Medical Council under
s. 33 read with s.. 19A, Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and H
therefore violate the fundamental right of the petitioner guaranteed
44 SUPREME COURT REPORTS (J 98 !J 3 S.C.R.

A under Article 15 of the Constitution. It is contended that the
Regulations are law and are enforceable in a court, and that if they
are to prevail the only rese1vation permissible is that in favour of
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. According to the Regula-
tions, it is asserted, a Selection Committee can either take into
consideration the marks obtained in a qualifyin.g examination or in
B the competitive test. Nor, it is said, can a viV1 voce examination be
permitted as a vehicle for selection. The validity of holdin.g a
separate objective test is also assailed as also of assign.ing 35% of
the total marks to it. The merit test is challenged on the ground
that no curricula have been prescribed in relation thereto

c Objection to the objective test and the viva voce examination
is based on the ground that they fall outside the scheme envisaged
by the Regulations made by the Indian Medical Council for admis-
sion to the M.B.B.S. course. The respondents, however, question the
validity of the Regulations. We are then referred by the petitioners
to clauses ( j) and (I) of s. 33, Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 in
D support of the contention that the power of the Council to make
regulations extends to making regulations prescribing the examina-
tions and tests for admission. It seems to us prima facie that those
provisions do not authorise the Council to do so. But we refrain
from expressing any final opinion in the matter as the Council is not
a party before us. We are also not satisfied that the reservations
E permissible must be confined to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled
Tribes. Nor do we find sufficient basis in the submission that there
is arbitrariness in providing for 35 marks to a separate objective
test in addition to the 35 marks earmarked for the qualifying exami-
nation. The grounds taken before us do not justify the conclusion
that a competitive entrance examination is not permissible in law in
F addition to the qualifying examination. In regard to the sufficiency )-
of the objective test, we are not satisfied that the absence of a
prescribed formal curriculum vitiates the objective test.

The next contention on behalf of the petitioners is that the
presence of a Government official on the Selection Committee vitiates
G its constitution. It is stressed that the viva voce test to be acceptable l
should be conducted by persons who are men of high integrity,
calibre and qualifications. There is no principle of law, so far as
we know, disqualifying a Government official from participating on
the Interview Committee merely because he is a Government official.
H Nor do we believe that a Government official cannot be a person of
high integrity, calibre and qualifications. The constitution of a
ART! SAPRU v. J, AND K. (Pathak, J.) 45

Committee lies in the wisdom of the State Government and it is A
expected that men suitably qualified in every respect will be appoint-
ed to discharge the functions of the Committee. So long as the
State Government acts bona fide and on the basis of relevant con-
siderations it is not possible to say that the appointment of a
Government official is obnoxious to the law.
B
In the result, the writ pelitions are allowed insofar that the
selection of candidates for admission to the M.B.B.S. course of the
Government Medical Colleges at Srinagar and at Jammu for the
year 1980-81 m~de on the basis of rectifying regional imbalances is
quashed and the respondents are directed to fill up those seats on
the basis of open merit. The candidates who will be displaced in
consequence have already completed a few months of study and in
c
order to avoid serious prejudice and detriment to their careers it is
hoped that the State Government will deal sympathetically with
their cases so that while effect is given to the judgment of this Court
the rules may be suitably relaxed, if possible by a temporary increase
in the number of seats, in order to accommodate the displaced can· D
didates. In the circumstances, there is no order as to costs.
S.R. Petitions allowed .

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