Summary
The Court invalidated the 75% Class XII threshold for PEC’s sports quota because it undermined the quota’s purpose of rewarding sporting achievement. A minimum academic standard remained permissible, but mechanically importing the general-category threshold discriminated against the distinct sports category. Relief was confined to filling remaining sports seats under the directed criteria, without disturbing completed admissions.
Issues
- Whether the 75% qualifying-examination threshold for the sports quota violated equality.
- How relief should operate after most admissions had been completed.
Provisions considered
- Article 14, Constitution of IndiaApplying an identical high academic threshold to the distinct sports category defeated the quota’s object and resulted in discriminatory treatment. (¶¶ 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
- Clause 1(b), as applied to sports admissions, PEC admission brochure for academic year 2023–24The minimum 75% Class XII condition and its incorporation into sports eligibility were declared unenforceable and void. (¶¶ 3, 17, 18, 19)
- Sports eligibility and gradation criteria, Chandigarh Administration sports policyThe policy’s emphasis on sporting achievement governed inter se merit for remaining seats, subject to the preceding academic year’s eligibility criterion as directed. (¶¶ 11, 12, 17, 18, 19)
Held
- Equality can require treating differently situated groups differently. A classification and its conditions must bear a rational connection to their purpose; uniform treatment may itself discriminate where it ignores relevant differences. (¶¶ 14, 15, 16, 17)
- The sports quota sought to promote sporting excellence rather than academic competition. Although the institution could prescribe minimum academic eligibility, requiring the general-category 75% threshold could exclude an outstanding sportsperson in favour of a weaker sportsperson with higher marks. In this scheme the condition defeated the quota’s purpose, particularly given the detailed sports gradation policy, earlier lower thresholds and lower thresholds available to vertically reserved candidates. (¶¶ 17, 18, 19)
- Existing admissions were protected. Remaining sports seats were to be filled within two weeks according to sports-policy merit among applicants whose candidature had been rejected for falling below 75%, provided they met the immediately preceding academic year’s eligibility criterion. The decision did not invalidate admissions in other categories. (¶¶ 19, 20)
Result
Appeal allowed and High Court order set aside. Sports-quota 75% condition declared void; remaining seats to be filled within two weeks under the directed criteria, protecting completed admissions. No costs.