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| Thursday, July 12, 2007
“Freedom fighters’ grandchildren not eligible to MBBS special quota”
Petition filed by minor boy claimed that the word ‘children’
in prospectus will include grandchildren
Madurai: Grandchildren of freedom fighters are not eligible
to allotment of medical college seats under the special quota,
the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court ruled on Wednesday.
Justice K. Chandru held so while dismissing a writ petition
filed by a minor boy who claimed that the word ‘children’
in paragraph 14(i) of the MBBS prospectus for 2007-08 would
include not only sons and daughters but also grandchildren.
The clause stipulates the requirements for filling up three
seats reserved for freedom fighters’ children.
Disagreeing with the petitioner, the Judge said it would be
“dangerous” to rely upon a dictionary for interpreting
the word ‘children’ found in the prospectus. The
meaning of the word differs from dictionary to dictionary and
it depends upon the context in which the said word is used.
He quoted various meanings for the word from law lexicons, dictionaries
and the principles followed in United Kingdom “to indulge
in a semantic luxury.”
“If the petitioner’s argument is accepted, wherever
the word ‘children’ is found, then the meaning found
in the dictionary will include the descendants and it will lead
to absurd results,” the Judge said. Going by the petitioner’s
contention, the scope of interpretation would also include great
grandchildren and the eighth or ninth generation of the martyrs
in the first war of independence in 1857 might claim quota now,
he added.
The Judge refused to accept the argument that the reservation
would become an empty formality if the grandchildren were not
allotted the seats as most of the freedom fighters did not have
children at the age of joining medical college. Under the present
system, unutilised seats under the special categories are transferred
to general category and so there is no question of seats falling
vacant, he said.
“Ultimately, if the State Government finds that nobody
will apply under this category, it is for the State Government
to remove the said para 14 from the prospectus for future years
rather than allowing it to be obtained by the so called descendants
of the freedom fighters, who want to encash the sacrifice of
their great fathers and great grand fathers,” Mr. Justice
Chandru said. It was never the intention of the State Government
to provide quota for the descendants for all time to come. The
Government always compensates them through pension and family
pension. Even in the present case, the petitioner’s grand
mother was getting freedom fighter’s pension due to her
husband.
Even the prospectus under para 14(i) states that adopted/foster
sons/daughters are not eligible to seek admission in this category.
“If the intention of the State Government is to exclude
the adopted and foster sons/daughters, then it is to see that
this quota is not misused by unscrupulous elements as had happened
in the past where even a 90-year-old freedom fighter adopted
a prospective applicant for the medical course as his son,”
the Judge said.
Courtesy: The Hindu
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