The grievance of Muhammad Adnan Cheema petitioner herein relates to his admission in the 3rd Year Class of the Government Degree College, Gujranwala Cantt., Gujranwala respondent herein.
2. The case of the petitioner is that he passed his Intermediate Examination from the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Gujranwala in 1992 having secured 2nd Division with 573 marks.
It is contended that the College authorities vide Notification, Photostat copy of which is as Annexure `C' to the petition laid down the conditions of eligibility for seeking admission. For facility of reference the notification is reproduced as under:-- NOTIFICATION It is notified for the information of all concerned that admission to 3rd Year Class in F.G. Degree College, Gujranwala Cantt under the jurisdiction of the University of the Punjab, Lahore for academic session 1992-93 shall be made w.e.f. 8-10-1992.
The interested persons in the above-cited admission have to apply on the prescribed forms available in the College office on or before 7-10-1992. ..- The eligibility to apply for admission is that candidate must have 50% marks of the F.A. aggregate marks.
The admission is open to both girls and boys.
SUBJECTS.
Compulsory:English, Islamic Education and Pak Studies.
Elective:
1. Economics & Statisti(s 2.Pol. Sc & Islamiat Optional: One of the following subjects.
1.Urdu.
2.Islamic Studies, 3.Persian, (Sd.)
PRINCIPAL
4. Mr. Muhammad Aqil Mirza, learned counsel respectfully submitted that the petitioner is a bona fide do1nicile of Chak Sada, Tehsil Wazirabad, within the Cantonment Area of Gujranwala Cantt. It is stated that his father, namely, Muhammad Anwar, Cheema. as well as his mother Mst. Jameela Begum own agricultural land in Chak Sada. It is further urged that the petitioner has also ancestral residential property in Chak Sada and has partial residence in the Chak as well. In support of his contentions,-reliance is placed on copies of Register Haqdaran Zamin of Village Chak Sada as well as certificate from the Lambardar of the village. The relevant documents are appended with the writ petition.
5. Mr. Muhammad Aqil Mirza, Advocate vehemently argued that according to the declared Admission Policy of the College as contained in the notification referred above which was supplied to the petitioner alongwith the admission form, the condition of eligibility for admission was that the candidate must have obtained 50% marks in the Intermediate Examination. It is argued that the petitioner is fully qualified and eligible for admission in the Federal Government Degree College, inasmuch as, he obtained more than 50% marks in the Intermediate Examination and, therefore, the respondent has acted in violation of his own policy in refusing to entertain the application on the ground that he was not a resident of Cantonment Area.
6. Mr. Temoor Sultan Khan, Lecturer, Federal. Government College, Gujranwala appeared alongwith Ghulam Rasool, U.D.C. with record. They strongly opposed the writ petition and respectfully submitted that admission to the Federal Government College in Cantonment/Garrisons is governed by the policy formulated by the General Headquarters F.G.E.I. (C/G) Dte, IGT&E (CA), dated 17th September, 1989 which was circulated to all the Principals of the Federal Government Colleges in the Cantonment. It was argued that according to the said letter civilian students not residing within the cantonment are not eligible for admission. They argued that the petitioner was not residing in the Cantonment and, therefore, in the light of the policy decision as reflected in the letter, dated 17th September, 1989 referred above, the petitioner was not entitled to be admitted in. the 3rd Year Class of Federal Government Degree College, Gujranwala. It is further argued that the letter in question was supplied to the petitioner alongwith the notification referred above. It would be advantageous to reproduce the contents of the letter, dated 17th September, 1989 which reads as under:-- , All the Principles of F.G. Colleges (C/G).
Infor:
1. Chairman, Regional Boards/Sub-Regional Boards.
2. C.S.O.-I,FGEI,RegionalOffice,Peshawar/ Wah/Rawalpindi/Mangla/Multan/Lahore/Karachi and Quetta.
Subject: ADMISSION TO 1ST YEAR CLASS F.G.COLLEGES 1N CANTTS/GARRISONS: With immediate effect and until further orders, following admission policy will be observed for admission to Class Xl:--
(a) Admission to Class XI in colleges will be carried out strictly on merit against respective quotas.
(b) 35% seats shall be reserved for the admission of the children of serving Armed Forces Personal.
(c) 65% seats shall be reserved for the admission of the children of civilians residing in the Cantonments. Appropriate methods will .be used to verify the residence of the applicants.
(d) In closed cantonments i.e. Mangla, Kharian, Gujranwala and Okara the quota will be reversed i.e. 65% for the children of Armed Forces Personnel and 35% for civilians. .
(e) On the last date for receipt of applications for admission the Directorate will be informed about the statistics of applicants in both categories, telephonically followed by a written statement.
(f) Admission will be restricted to the number of seats presently allowed in all institutions. Now new section in any case will be opened without prior written approval of the Directorate.
(g) Children of FGEI employees will be considered at par with the children of S.V.E. Personnel.
However, their admissions will be over and above the prescribed quota.
(h) The sons/daughters of service personal who clear their Matric Examination in supplement examination will be allowed admission to 1st Year Class if they are within the existing merit of colleges. Similar cases of civilians will also be considered by the Principal on merit subject to availability of seats.
(j) Upon transfer of Service Personnel, the admissions of their children will be ensured over and above the quota earmarked.
(k) Unfilled seats will be filled as per procedure contained in the S.O.P.
This issues in supersession of this Directorate's letter of even number dated 7-7-1987.'
The principals, will be personally responsible to ensure that the above instructions are strictly adhered to.
(Sd,)
Col. Director, Federal Government Educational Institutions (NISAR AHMAD KHAN)
7. After hearing the learned counsel for the petitioner at some length and representative of the respondent and perusing the material placed before me it goes without saying that in terms of clause `C' of the Policy letter, dated 17th September, 1989 referred above, 65% seats are reserved for admission to the children of civilians residing in the Cantonment. It is also-incumbent upon the college authorities to employ an appropriate method for verification of the residence of the applicants. However, the question whether or not the petitioner is residing in the Cantonment is essentially a question of fact which cannot be adjudicated upon in these proceedings. It may, however, be noticed that the petitioner in his admission form against Column No.4 has himself stated that he was residing at `Ch. Anwar Cheema Guro Kotha Road, Wazirabad,' Learned counsel for the petitioner has frankly stated that this locality does not fall within the limits of Cantonment Area but is located ten. miles outside the limits of Cantonment Area. Furthermore, the documents Annexures `A', A/1 and B placed on the record of this Court for the first time were not produced by the petitioner before the College authorities and, therefore, no occasion arose for verifying his address.
8. Be that as it may, the policy letter, dated 17th September, 1989 clearly refers to admission policy for admission to Class XI and not to 3rd Year classes in which the petitioner sought admission. In view of the notification referred above governing admission to 3rd Year Class in the Federal Government Degree College, Gujranwala Cantt. the only condition of eligibility for admission was that the candidate must have 50% marks of the intermediate aggregate marks. The admission was open to both girls and boys and it was nowhere stated in the said notification that children of civilians residing in the Cantonment alone will be eligible to seek admission. Furthermore, Mr. Temoor Sultan Khan, Lecturer, has frankly conceded before the Court that last year some children of civilians though nor residing within the Cantonment Area were granted admission. If that is so, I see no reason why a discriminatory treatment was meted out to the petitioner. Mr. Temoor Sultan Khan, Lecturer, Federal Government Degree College, Gujranwala Cantt. also stated before the Court that the sanctioned strength for admission in 3rd Year Class in 40 but many candidates have not been cleared the dues and, therefore, so far only 29 seats have been filled in and the remaining eligible students are yet to be admitted. In the view of the matter, I see no reason why the petitioner be not accommodated on the basis of the notification referred above.
9. In view of the above, the impugned action of the respondent whereby the admission form of the petitioner has been rejected on the ground of eligibility and he was refused admission in 3rd Year Class in academic session 1992-93 are hereby declared as without lawful authority and of no legal effect. In consequence, the respondent is directed to consider afresh the case of the petitioner within fifteen days from today on merits and in the light of observations made in this order and in accordance with law. To this extent the writ petition is accepted with no order as to costs.