S. NIHAAL AHAMEDversusTHE DEAN, VELAMMALMEDICALCOLLEGE HOSPITAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE & ORS.

                       [2015] 10 S.C.R. 242


A                      S. NIHAAL AHAMED
                                  v.
    THE DEAN, VELAMMALMEDICALCOLLEGE HOSPITAL
           AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE & ORS.
B              (Civil Appeal Nos. 8067-8068 of 2015)
                      SEPTEMBER 30, 2015
              [M.Y. EQBALAND C. NAGAPPAN, JJ.]

c           Education/Educational Institutions: MBBS admission
    - Appellants see,king admission - Opted for respondent-
    college as first choice- Result published whereby appellant-
    N was placed at rank no. 731 and appellant-G at rank no.551
    in the merit fist - Respondent directed appellants to come
D   after 26.9.2013 - Complaints by appellants against the
    respondent-college to the Monitoring Committee -
    Respondent directed appellants to appear for counselling
    on 26.9.2013-Appellants received letters after 26.9.2013
    and were refused seats on the ground that they did not
E   approach within stipulated time - Writ petitions- Single judge
    held that the appellants were not entitled for admission in
    the MBBS course due to lapse of time however they were
    entitled to Rs.3 /akhs each as compensation payable by
    respondent - On appeals, the Division Bench held that
F   appellants were not entitled for admission in the MBBS
    course and also not entitled for compensation - Held: The
    respondent-college drafted fetters dated 24. 9. 2013 directing
    the appellants to appear for counselling on 26. 9. 2013 and
    marked copy of the same to the Monitoring Committee -
G   The said letters were posted only on 29.9.2013 as evident
    from the post office seal affixed on the envelope produced
    by the appellants - The finding-of the Single Judge that the
    respondent-Medical College is at fault in not sending call
H   letters in time is based on proper appreciation of factual
                                 242
    S. NIHAALAHAMED v. THE DEAN, VELAMMAL MEDICAL            243
       COLLEGE HOSPITAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE

matrix - The appellants though placed in the merit list could A
not secure admission due to the fault of the respondent-
col/ege - The order of the Single Judge restored.

      Partly allowing the appeals, the Court
                                                           B
        HELD: The respondent-Medical College drafted
letters dated 24.9.2013 directing the appellants to appear
for counselling on 26.9.2013 and marked copy of the
same to the Monitoring Committee. The said letters were
posted only on 29.9.2013 as evident from the post office c
seal affixed on the envelope produced by the appellants.
The finding of the Single Judge that the respondent-
Medical College is at fault in not sending call letters in
time is based on proper appreciation of factual matrix.
The appellants though placed in the merit list could not o
secure admission due to the faalt of the respondent-
Medical College. As rightly held by the High Court they
were not·entitled to the relief of admission sought for by
them in the writ petition due to lapse of time. In the
present case the Single Judge after elaborately E
considering the facts and circumstances held that the
appellants-writ petitioners were entitled to a sum of Rs.
3 lakhs each as compensation payable by the
respondent-Medical College and directed to pay within
a period of 8 weeks. The said direction was erroneously F
reversed by the Division Bench. The order of the Single
Judge has to be restored. The impugned judgment in
so far as setting aside the order of the Single Judge
awarding compensation to the appellants is, set aside
and the order of the Single Judge awarding G
compensation of Rs.3 lakhs to each of the appellants is·
restored alongwith time schedule for payment. [Paras 5
to 8] [247-B-E; 248-8, F-H; 249-A]
                                                             H
244        SUPREME COURT REPORTS               [2015] 10 S.C.R.


A          Chandigarh Administration and another v.
           Jasmine Kaur and others (2014) 10 SCC 521 -
           referred to.

                       Case Law Reference
B
      (2014) 10 sec 521         referred to.        Para 6

            CIVILAPPELLATE JURISDICTION: Civil Appeal Nos.
      8067-8068 of 2015

C           From the Judgment and Order dated 25.09.2014 of the
      High Court of Madras at Madurai in WA Nos. 898 and 923 of
      2014.

                               WITH
D C. A Nos. 8069-8070 of 2015

          Ajmal Khan, E. Mohamad Abhas, A.
   Lakshminarayaman, S. C. V. Vimal Pani, J.B. JanathAhmed,
   (forV. Ramasubramanian), Beno Bencigar, (for Sanjay Kumar
 E Visen) for the Appellant.

            Krishnan Venugopal, S. Ravi Shankar, Sangita Singh,
      Shivendra Singh, Gaurav Sharma, Prateek Bhatia for the
      Respondents. ·
 F
            The Judgment of the Court was delivered by

            C. NAGAPPAN, J. 1. Leave granted.
         2. All these appeals have been preferred against the
G common judgment dated 25.9.2014 passed by the Madurai
  Bench of Madras High Court in Writ Appeal (MD)Nos. 794,
  898, 921 and 923 of 2014.

         3. The facts are briefly as follows: The appellants
 H passed Higher Secondary examination in March 2013 and
   S. NIHAALAHAMED v. DEAN, VELAMMAL MEDICAL COLLEGE                 245
     HOSPITAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE [C. NAGAPPAN, J.]

  submitted application for admission to M.B.B.S. Course to the      A
  Consortium of Tamil Nadu Private Professional Colleges
  Association, affiliated to the Tamil Nadu Dr. M.G.R. Medical
  University which is one of the respondents herein, and both of
  them had preferred the same Private Medical College which
  is also one of the respondents herein, as their first choice. On   B
  23.9.2013 results were published in which appellant-Nihaal
  Ahamed was placed in Rank No. 731 and appellant-Gayathri
  in Rank No. 551 in the merit list.According to them, they went
  to the respondent-Medical College on 24.9.2013 and sought
  admission and they were directed to come after 26.9.2013.          C
  Both of them made complaints against respondent-Medical
. College to the Monitoring Committee which is one of the
  respondents herein and the said Committee called for remarks
  from the Medical College. Meanwhile the respondent-Medical
                                                                     0
  College drafted letters dated 24.9.2013 addressed to both
  the appellants which were posted on 29.9.2013 directing them
  to appear for counselling on 26.9.2013. The appellants
  received the said letters on 1.10.2013 and 30.9.2013
  respectively and immediately approached the respondent-            E
  Medical College to allot seats and same was refused on the
  ground that they did not approach them within the stipulated
  time. Both the appellants filed independent writ petitions on
  the file of the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court seeking
  for issuance of writ of mandamus to direct the respondent-         F
   Medical College to admit them in the first year M.B.B.S.
  Course for the academic year 2013-14 in their college.
   Learned Single Judge heard both the writ petitions and by
  common order held that the appellants-writ petitioners were
   not entitled for admission in the M.B.B.S. Course and on the      G
   other hand they are each entitled to a sum of Rs. 3 lakhs as
   compensation payable by the respondent-Medical College
  within a period of 8 weeks. Challenging the denial of relief qf
   admission, both the appellants preferred independent writ
   appeals and challenging the grant of compensation, the            H
246         SUPREME COURT REPORTS                   (2015] 10 S.C.R.


A     respondent-Medical College preferred two writ appeals. The
      Division Bench affirmed the view of the learned Single Judge
      that the appellants were not entitled for the admission in the
      M.B.B.S Course and dismissed the writ appeals preferred by
      them. It further held that the appellants are not entitled for
 B    compensation and allowed the writ appeals preferred by the
      respondent-Medical College. Aggri~ved by the same,
      appellants have preferred the present appeals.

           4. Mr. M. Ajmal Khan, learned senior counsel appearing
C forthe appellant-NihaalAhamed contended thatthe appellants
   approached the respondent-Medical College on 24.9.2013
   itself and the college with a malafide intention directed them
  ·to come after 26.9.2013 and on the complaint lodged by the
   appellants with the Monitoring Committee, in order to wriggle
D out, the respondent-Medical college drafted ante dated letters
   dated 24.9.2013 and posted it calling upon the appellants to
   appear for counselling at a prior date and in fact the college
   had given admission to ~tudents who had secured lesser
   marks thar, that of the appellants and the appellants are entitled
E for the relief sought for in the writ petitions. We also heard the
   submission of the learned counsel appearing for the appellant-
   Gayathri. Mr. Krishnan Venugopal, learned senior counsel
   appearing for the respondent-Medical College contended that
F the. appellants were orally told on 24.9'.2013 to report on
   26.9.2013 in the college and the call letters dated 24.9.2013
   were also sent and since they were not present in the college ·
   on 26.9.2013, the vacancies were filled up according to merit
   list and there is no denial of admission to the appellants· and
G they are not entitled to any relief. We also heard learned
   counsel appearing for the other respondents.

             5. It-is not in dispute the Consortium of Medical Colleges
      issued a prospectus for admission to the M.B.B.S. Course
H     and as per the instruction therein, preference would be given
  S. NIHAALAHAMED v. DEAN, VELAMMAL MEDICAL COLLEGE                   247
    HOSPITAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE [C. NAGAPPAN, J.]

to first choice opted by the candidate. In the merit list published   A
by them on 23.9.2013 the names of the appellants found place
at SI. Nos. 731 and 551 respectively. It is also not in dispute
that both the appellants had opted the respondent-Medical
College as their first choice. Both of them had in fact
approached the respondent-Medical College on 24.9.2013 for            B
admission and they were directed to come after 26.9.2013.
Annoyed by the reply they immediately sent complaints to the
Monitoring Committee which now in turn called for the remarks
of the respondent-Medical College. The learned Single Judge
in his order has observed that the r~spondent-Medical College         C
admitted the receipt of the communication from the Committee
on the very same day in the evening and there is also a specific
admission to that effect in the counter affidavit filed by them.
Thereafter the respondent-Medical College drafted letters
                                                                      0
dated 24.9.2013 directing the appellants to appear for
 counselling on 26.9.2013 and marked copy of the same to the
 Monitoring Committee. The said letters have been posted
 only on 29.9.2013 as evident from the post office seal affixed
 on the envelope produced by the appellants. The finding of           E
 the learned Single Judge that the respondent-Medical College
 is at fault in not sending call letters in time is based on proper
 appreciation of factual matrix.

       6. After having culled out the broad principles from the       F
previous decisions, this Court in the decision in Chandigarh
Administration and another Vs. Jasmine Kaur and
others; (2014) 10 sec 521) held as follows:

      "If. a candidate is not selected during a particular
      academic year due to the fault of the institutions/ G
      authorities and in this process if the seats are filled up
      and the scope for granting admission is lost due to
      eclipse of time schedule, then under such circumstances,
      the candidate should not be victimized for no fault of his/ H
248        SUPREME COURT REPORTS                    [2015] 10 S.C.R.


A         her and the court may consider grant of appropriate
          compensation to offsetthe loss caused, if ariy."

  The appellants herein though placed in the merit list could not
  secure admission due to the fault of the respondent-Medical
B College. As rightly held by the High Court they are not entitled
  to the relief of admission sought for by them in the writ petition
  due to lapse of time.

             7. Reliance was placed by the appellants on the order
c of this Court dated 2.9.2014. in Krina Ajay Shah and Ors.
    Vs. The Secretary, Association of Management of
    Unaided Private Medical and Dental Colleges,
    Maharashtra and ors. (SLP No. 31900 of 2013 etc:). The
    said bunch of SLPs was filed in 2013 and the petitioners therein
o   were students who appeared for the entrance examination
    conducted by the Association of Private Medical Colleges and
    Dental Colleges, Maharashtra and the petitiol')ers were heard
    together and this Court held that inspite of the pendency of the
  · SLPs for over a year, the State of Maharashtra never thought it
E fit to file any affidavit explaining its stand in the matter and the
    grievance of the petitioners was fully justified but the petitioners
    cannot be granted admission in view of the long lapse of time
    but they are entitled to public law damages and awarded a
    sum of Rs. 20 lakhs to each one of the petitioners as public
F law damages. In the present case the learned Single Judge
    after elaborately considering the facts and circumstances held
    that the appellants-writ petitioners are entitled to a sum of Rs.
    3 lakhs each as compensation payable by the respondent-
    Medical College and directed to pay within a period of 8 weeks.
G The said direction has been erroneously reversed by the
    Division Bench. In our view the order of the learned Single
    Judge has to be restored.

        8. In the result the appeals are partly allowed and the
H impugned judgment in so far as setting aside the order of the
  S. NIHAALAHAMED v. DEAN, VELAMMAL MEDICAL COLLEGE               249
    HOSPITAL AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE [C. NAGAPPAN, J.]

Single Judge awarding compensation to the appellants is, set A
aside and the order of the Single Judge awarding
compensation of Rs. 3 lakhs to each of the. appellants is
restored alongwith time schedule for payment.

Devika Gujral                           Appeals partly allowed.   B