MEENAKSHI MALIK versus UNIVERSITY OF DELHI & ORS.

Citation: [1989] 2 S.C.R. 858 · Decided: 01-05-1989 · Supreme Court of India · Bench: R.S. PATHAK · Disposal: Case Allowed
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Judgment (excerpt)

A 
MEENAKSHI MALIK 
v. 
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI & ORS. 
MAY 1, 1989 
B 
[R.S. PATHAK, CJ, RANGANATH MISRA AND 
MURARI MOHON DUTT, JJ.) 
,>..... 
Constitution of India: Article 32-Universities-Medicalcolleges_. 
Admission-Local candidates-Reservation of seats-Condition-Last 
two years of education in a school in Delhi-Whether unreasonable and -
c in-applicable to students leaving India with their parents on the parent 
being deputed to a foreign country. 
Administrative Law: Rules-Reasonableness-Necessity of. 
~ 
The petitioner was born and studied upto class IX in Delhi. In 
D 
1982 she left for Nigeria, along with her parents, where her father went 
on deputation. There she passed the General Certificate of Education 
Ordinary Level, conducted by University of London, which was recog-
nised by the Central Board of Secondary Education, New Delhi as 
equivalent to Class XI in India. She returned to India along with her 
family in 1984. 
-~ 
E 
After passing the All India Senior School Certificate Examination 
in 1985, she appeared for entrance examination for admission to one of 
the three Medical Colleges in Delhi and passed the test. But she was 
denied admission because she had not satisfied the further condition 
that the last two years of edncation should be had in a school in Delhi. 
F 
Aggrieved by the denial of admission, the petitioner filed a writ petition 
""'-
in this Court. By an order dated 31st July, 1987 this Court allowed the 
Writ Petition and directed the respondents to admit her in one of the 
three Delhi Medical Colleges in the first year course prescribed for the ,. 
M.B.B.S. Degree. 
G 
Giving reasons for the said order, this Court, 
HELD: I. Rules are intended to be reasonable, and should take 
k 
into account the variety of circumstances in which those whom the rules 
seek to govern find themselves. [861C] 
H 
2. The qualifying condition that a candidate appearing for the 
858 
) 
• 
). 
_., 
MEENAKSHI MALIK v. DELHI UNIVERSITY [PATHAK, CJ.] 
859 
entrance examination for admission to a Medical College in Delhi 
shonld have received the last two years of education in a school in Delhi 
is unreasonable when applied in the case of those candidates who were 
compelled to leave India for a foreign country by reason of the posting 
of the parent by the Government to such foreign country. There is no 
real choice in the matter for snch a student, and in many cases the 
circumstances of the student do not permit her to continue schooling in 
India. Theoretically it is possible for a student to he put into a hostel to 
tontinue her schooling in Delhi but in many cases this may not be 
feasible and the student must accompany the parent to the foreign 
country. [llOOH, 861A] 
3. The rigour of the condition prescribing that the last two years 
of education should be. received in a school in Delhi should be relaxed, 
A 
B 
c 
t-
and there should be no insistence on the fultilment of that condition, in 
the case of students of parents who are transferred to a foreign country 
by· the Government and who are therefore required to leave India alOng 
with them. Therefore, the denial of admission to the petitioner to a seat 
in one of the Medical Colleges in Delhi was unreasonable. [861B, 861E] 
D 
ORIGINAL JURISDICTION: Writ Petition (Civil) No. 1050 of 
1986. 
(Under Article 32 of the Constitution of India). 
A.C. Gulati, S.K. Goel, S.K. Bansal and L.C. Goyal for the 
Petitioner. 
T.S.K. Iyer, Mariarputham, Ms. A. Mathur, M. Veerappa, 
Pramod Swarup, K. Ramkumar, R. Bana, A. Subba Rao, S.K. Bhat-
E 
tacharya, Ms Urmila Kapoor and Ms. Janki for the Respondents. 
F 
..... 
The Judgment of the Court was delivered by 
PATHAK, CJ, On 31 July, 1987, we allowed this writ petition 
and directed the respondents to admit the petitioner, Meenakshi 
Malik, in one of the three Delhi Medical Colleges in the first year 
G 
course prescribed for the M.B.B.S. Degree. We said that the reasons 
would be pronounced later. We proceed to do so now. 
The petitioner was born in Delhi on 8 September, 1967. Her 
father, Shri O.P. Malik, was employed in the National Council of 
Educational Research and Training, Sri Aurobindo ·Marg, New Delhi 
H 
A 
B 
c 
860 
SUPREME COURT REPORTS 
[1989] 2 S.C.R. 
and her mother, Smt. Kanta Devi Malik was employed in the Govern-
A 
ment Girls Senior SeCot!dary School, Mehrauli, New Delhi. The 
petitioner attended the Junior Public School, Shakti Nagar, upto Class 
II and the Cambridge School, Siriniwaspu
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