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The bench considered the petitioner's plea that he could not complete his 10th and 12th standard in Maharashtra since his father was posted in different parts of the Country, as he was an Army Officer.
The division bench of Bombay High Court comprising of Justices S.V. Gangapurwala and Madhav J. Jamdar allowed candidates for state quota admission who were born in Maharashtra but had completed 10th/12th outside Maharashtra due to parent’s posting in different states of the country.
The petitioners had approached the High Court challenging the eligibility criteria for admission through the Maharashtra quota for a 5-year integrated law program. The petitioners are the children of an Army Officer who were born in Maharashtra but went to Army School in Delhi. The petitioners could not complete their 10th and 12th grades in Maharashtra, since their father was posted in different states in India.
The eligibility criteria of the state government for the Maharashtra quota stated that to be eligible for the quota the candidate must have completed 10th/12th grade from a recognized institution in Maharashtra.
The Advocate for the petitioners argued before the court that the quota being denied to the petitioner is an not justified and a denial of equal opportunity under Article 14, only because the father was posted outside Maharashtra in various states. The advocate also argued that such classification is against Article 14 and is unjust.
The advocate for the respondent submitted before the court that the rule was not discriminatory and arbitrary. The advocate referred to the various judgments where such a rule has been held as valid. The advocate for the respondent cited Yellamalli Venkatapriyanka vs. the State of Maharashtra and Anr 2018 (6) 323 wherein it was decided that the preference in admission on the basis of residence as well as institutional preference is permissible.
The court while allowing the petition noted that:
“Though we hold that Rules are not ultra vires, however, we may hasten to add that same needs to be read down to provide relaxation or exemption for those candidates who are born in Maharashtra and whose parents are domicile of Maharashtra but due to fortuitous circumstances such as the parent is in service of the Government and serving the nation and due to service condition is deployed in various parts of the country could not complete their SSC or HSC from the State of Maharashtra.”
The court directed the respondent to consider the petitioners application for the Maharashtra State quota and noted that the rule is made absolute in aforesaid terms.
Case Title: Ms. Priya Kedar Gokhale and Anr. vs State of Maharashtra and Ors.
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