Hon'ble Tarun Agarwala, J.
The petitioner applied for admission in Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar in M.Sc Chemistry. He filled up two forms. One for the entrance competitive examination in which he applied as an OBC candidate. The petitioner also applied under the NRI sponsored scheme as a general category candidate. The present dispute relates to his candidature under the entrance examination as an OBC candidate.
It transpires that the petitioner qualified in the entrance examination and was kept in the waiting list at serial No. 4 in the OBC category. The petitioner was not granted admission on the ground that the OBC certificate produced by the petitioner was not as per the Central list of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes as per the Resolution No. 12011/68/93 DCC (C) of the Ministry of Welfare. The petitioner, being aggrieved, has filed the present writ petition.
The sole dispute is whether the OBC certificate produced by the petitioner is as per the Central list or not. The petitioner has filed the OBC certificate dated 29th June, 2011 issued by the Tehsildar Roorkee certifying that the petitioner belongs to Kahar caste which comes under the OBC category as per the Central Govt. notification No. 12011/68/93/- BCC dated 10 September, 1993. The respondents have rejected the admission of the petitioner on the ground that the petitioner's caste certificate is not reflected in the list of National Commission for Backward Classes (hereinafter referred to as ‘NCBC’) on its website and, therefore, the petitioner cannot be granted the admission.
The brochure relating to applying for admission and the reservation category relating thereto is quoted hereunder:-
“Reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) category shall be given as per the Central Educational Institution (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 No. 5 of 2007. The OBCs who are eligible for availing the benefits of reservation should be from the central list of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs)/Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as per Resolution No. 12011/68/93 DCC (C) of the Ministry of Welfare (now the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) as modified from time to time and the rules/criteria of exclusion of socially advanced persons/sections. For an updated list of state-wise OBCs eligible for availing benefits of reservation, see the list mentioned by the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) at its website:http://ncbc.nic.in”
A perusal of the aforesaid criteria laid down by the University is that the reservation for other backward category candidates would be given as per the Central Educational Institution (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 and the OBCs who are eligible for availing benefits of reservation should be from the central list of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) as per the Resolution No. 12011/68/93 DCC (C) of the Ministry of Welfare (now the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment) as modified from time to time. The brochure further indicates that an updated list of state-wise OBCs eligible for availing benefits of reservation, can see the list mentioned by the National Commission for Backward Classes in its website. Since the petitioner's caste category was not reflected in the website of NCBC, the petitioner's candidature for admission was refused.
The petitioner has filed a letter dated 28 July, 2011 issued by the NCBC. For ready reference, paragraph 2 of the said letter is quoted hereunder:-
“The State BC List for Uttarakhand was notified by the State Government vide Notification dated 22nd March, 2010. The Central List of OBCs for the State of Uttarakhand is under process. Till such time, the Central List of OBCs for the State of Uttarakhand is notified, the individuals belonging to Uttarakhand, who belong to OBC and whose caste/community is appearing in the Central List of OBCs for the State of Uttar Pradesh would be eligible to get the benefit of reservation as Uttarakhand was par tof erstwhile State of Uttar Pradesh.”
The aforesaid letter indicates that the State backward list of Uttarakhand which has been notified by the Govt. of Uttarakhand has not been uploaded in the list of NCBC and is under process and, therefore, till such time, the list is not uploaded, the University should consider the Central List of OBC for the State of Uttar Pradesh which would be eligible to get the benefit of reservation since Uttarakhand was a part of erstwhile State of Uttar Pradesh. This letter is admitted by the respondents who candidly admit that after getting knowledge of this letter, the OBC list as mentioned in the website of NCBC for the State of Uttar Pradesh is now being considered.
The petitioner has filed the Central list of OBC for the State of U.P which is annexure-7 to the writ petition which is reflected in the website of NCBC. Entry No. 4 indicates that Kahar caste/community has been included by Resolution No. 12011/68/93 DCC (C) 10 September, 1993. The inclusion of Kahar in the OBC list of Uttar Pradesh is not disputed by the respondents.
Admittedly, the petitioner has been issued a caste certificate, annexure-4 to the writ petition, indicating that he is a Kahar as per the Resolution No. 12011/68/93 DCC (C) 10 September, 1993. Consequently, it is clear that the petitioner has a caste certificate which has been issued by a competent authority, the genuineness of which has not been disputed. The petitioner's caste is included in the OBC list of Uttar Pradesh as well as in the list issued by the State Govt. of Uttarakhand but the list of Uttarakhand has not been uploaded in the website of NCBC on the basis of which the admission has been refused. In the opinion of the Court, the action of the respondents is patently arbitrary. The petitioner cannot be faulted on account of the fact that the list of Uttarakhand is not reflected in the website of NCBC. This Court is further of the opinion that once a caste certificate has been issued from a competent authority and its genuineness has not been faulted, the respondents could not refuse the admission merely because the caste was not being reflected in the website of the NCBC.
In the light of the aforesaid, the writ petition is allowed and a writ of mandamus is issued to grant admission to the petitioner under the OBC category in M.Sc Chemistry in the event persons lower to the petitioner in the waiting list has been granted admission.