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HIGH COURT OF DELHI
W.P.(C) 16532/2023 & CM APPL. 66635/2023
HIMANSHU ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr. Bibhuti Bhushan Mishra, Mr. Kamlesh Kumar Mishra, Mr. Dipak Raj, Ms. Tripti Juyal, Advs.
Through: Ms. Abha Malhora, Sr. CGC for UoI
4 & 5
JUDGMENT
05.03.2024
1. The petitioner seeks admission to one vacant seat of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) in the “Persons with Disabilities” (PwD) quota for the academic session 2023-25 in the Faculty of Management Studies (FMS), Delhi University (DU) which, according to the writ petition, is lying vacant.
2. In November to December 2022, the DU invited applications for admission to its MBA and Executive MBA programs for the academic session 2023-25. The petitioner applied for admission to the MBA full time program of the DU on 29 January 2023, in the PwD quota. Signing Date:09.03.2024 01:30
3. He was interviewed on 21 April 2023.
4. The merit list of the candidates who had been interviewed was released by the DU in the evening of 21 April 2023. The petitioner’s name figured at S. No. 45 in the waiting list of candidates in the PwD category who had applied for admission to the MBA Full Time course.
5. On 14 August 2023, the DU circulated an “Interest Form”, to be filled in by the candidates who were willing to seek admission to the MBA courses against vacant seats in different categories. The forms were also required to be filled in by candidates in the waitlisted category. The petitioner filled in the aforesaid interest form on 17 August 2023, expressing his willingness to be admitted to the MBA Full Time course provided by the DU.
6. Admissions to the MBA Full Time courses were closed on 31 August 2023. At that time, one seat remained vacant. The case of the petitioner in the writ petition is that, as the petitioner figured in the waiting list of the candidates for admission to the MBA Full Time course provided by the DU, and as one seat admittedly remained vacant, the petitioner ought to have been granted admission against the said seat.
7. A representation was addressed by the petitioner to the DU, to that effect, on 6 September 2023. The DU responded on 19 October Signing 2023, expressing regret at being unable to accommodate the petitioner, as the last date for admission to the MBA Full Time course was 31 August 2023.
8. That the last date for admission was indeed 31 August 2023 is not disputed by the petitioner.
9. The petitioner, thereafter, obtained admission to the MBA course provided by the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Delhi, which he presently pursuing. He, nonetheless, presses his claim for admission to the MBA Full Time course in the DU, inter alia, citing the high fees and hostel charges which have to be paid to the IIT for pursuing the MBA course with it.
10. This is the basis of the writ petition instituted by the petitioner.
11. The DU has filed a counter affidavit.
12. I heard learned Counsel for the parties at some length on 23 January 2024, pursuant to which the position which emerged was thus:
(i) There were two seats for persons with disabilities (PwD)
(ii) Following counselling, both the seats were filled in by
(iii) A 12th round of counselling was conducted on 29 August
2023, following which a 12th admission list was released on the same day. On that date, it was noticed that one of the two candidates selected for admission in the 11th round of counselling did not turn up for admission.
13. The case that Mr. Mishra seeks to canvass is that, as one of the candidates who was selected in the 11th admission list did not turn up for admission, that vacancy remained unfilled, and could have been filled up through the petitioner in the 12th round of counselling, which took place on 29 August 2023.
14. Even if the petitioner were to be the next candidate in the waiting list entitled to admission to the MBA Full Time program, the relief sought by the petitioner would nonetheless be difficult to grant. It is well-known that admission to any course in the DU – or, for that matter, any educational institution providing higher learning – is preceded by counselling.
15. The 12th round of counselling took place on 29 August 2023, pursuant to which the 12th admission list was released on the same day. It was only when the 12th round of counselling took place that the failure of the candidate selected in the 11th round of counselling to take admission became known. The cut-off date for effecting Signing admissions to the MBA Full Time program for the academic session 2023-25 was 31 August 2023.
16. The 12th round of counselling took place on 29 August 2023. Even if one of the candidate who was selected in the admission list following the 11th round of counselling on 26 August 2023 did not turn up, the vacancy that would thus arise could not have been filled up without a further round of counselling.
17. As the 12th round of counselling took place on 29 August 2023, and the cut-off date for effecting admission was 31 August 2023, there was no scope for any further counselling. The vacancy could not, therefore, have been filled up, even if the petitioner had been the senior most candidate in the waiting list entitled to such admission.
18. The counter-affidavit filed by the DU asserts, however, that the petitioner was not in fact the senior most candidate in merit in the waiting list of candidates belonging to the PwD and that there were 16 candidates above him, who could not be admitted to the MBA Full Time program.
19. The petitioner’s rank was 45 and the last candidate who was admitted was ranked 28. As such, even on merit, it is contended that the petitioner could not have made the grade for admission to the MBA Full Time course.
20. Insofar as the cut-off date is concerned, Mr. Mishra, learned Signing Counsel for the petitioner, has placed reliance on the judgment of a Division Bench of this Court in AIIMS v. Ashutosh Kumar[1], particularly drawing attention to para 19 of the said decision which reads thus: