Rakesh Ramnath Saigal Vs. State of Maharashtra - Court Judgment

Excerpt:
- section 10: [swatanter kumar, c.j., a.p. deshpande & smt. nishita mhatre, jj] admission to professional colleges - technical courses - publication of brochure on basis of which candidates seek admission to various institution keeping in mind their merit and preference of colleges held, for ensuring adherence to proper appreciation of an academic course, it is essential that the method of admission is just, fair and transparent. the first step in this direction would be publication of a brochure on the basis of which the applicants are supposed to aspire for admission to various institution keeping in mind their merit and preference of college. brochure, firstly has to be in conformity with law and the statutory scheme notified by the competent authority. it is a complete and composite document as it deals with the scheme for conducting their entrance examinations, declaration of results, general instructions and method of admission, etc. this brochure is binding on the applicants as well as the authorities. this brochure or admission notification issued by the state or other competent authority cannot be altered at a subsequent stage particularly once the process of admission has begun. there is hardly any exception to this accepted rule of law. section 10: [swatanter kumar, c.j., a.p. deshpande & smt. nishita mhatre,jj] admission to professional colleges - technical courses - approval to additional seats or to start new course - cut off dates held, the settled principle of law is that merit of the applicant is the primary criteria which would determine his rank as well as the college where he would be entitled to admission. this rule should not be frustrated as it will tantamount to entirely upsetting the object of admissions based on merit oriented method and would cast cloud on the fairness and transparency of the method of admission. one of the ways in which merit can be defeated is allowing increase in the intake strength or commencement if new colleges beyond cut-off date and admissions beyond the last date specified in the notification/calendar issued by the concerned authorities. this can be illustrated by giving an example. college a which is running a professional course like engineering or mba etc. has an intake capacity of 60 seats which has duly been notified in the information brochure. however, after the cut-off date, approval is granted by the aicte and thereafter, the process is taken up by the state and the intake capacity of the college is increased by 30 more seats. these seats would obviously, not be notified in the information brochure and the candidate who are meritorious and for whom college a; be the college of reference could not get seats or give preference as the seats were limited. none had the proper knowledge about the increase in intake of seats though at a much subsequent stage and may be even after the last date of admission is over either by themselves or under the order of the court even it is put on the internet or given in the newspaper, the candidates of higher rank or meritorious candidates would not be able to avail of that benefit because they have already submitted the testimonial, have paid their fees and the courses have commenced. in that situation, for variety of reasons, they may not be able to take admission in the institution of their higher preference while the candidates of much lower merit will be admitted to that course. besides defeating the merit, it has been commonly noticed that the late admissions made by the colleges directly effect notified candidates who have questioned it more than often as their admission process is not so just, fair and transparent which has given rise to the litigation. it is also a kind of back door entry method. another serious consequence that result from such admissions is shortening of the academic courses in an undesirable manner. it is expected of other candidate selected to a professional course that he or she would complete the course in its entirety and not by missing more than a month or so in joining the said course. this results in lowering the excellence of education as well as harms the academic standard of professional education. admission to professional colleges: [swatanter kumar, c.j., a.p. deshpande & smt. nishita mhatre, jj] technical courses - held, in process of admission to professional colleges relating to technical courses, primarily three institutional bodies are involved. (i) all india technical council for technical education, (ii) state of maharashtra through director of technical education and (iii) university to which such institution is affiliated the role of all these institutions in distinct and different but for a common object. primary of the rule of all india council for technical education (aicte) is now well settled but that certainly does not mean that role of the state government and for that matter the university is without any purpose or of no importance. the council is the authority constituted under the central act with the responsibility of maintaining education standards and judging upon the infra-structure and facilities available for imparting such professional education. its opinion is of utmost importance and shall take precedence over views of the state as well as that of the university. the concerned department of the state and the affiliating university has a role to pay but it is limited in its application. they cannot lay down any guidelines or policies which would be in conflict with the central statute or the students laid down a by the central body. state can frame its policy for admission to such professional courses but such policy again has to be in conformity with the directives issued by the central body. while the state grants its approval and university its affiliation for increased intake of seats or commencement for a new course/college, its directions should not offend and be repugnant to what has been laid down in the condition of approval granted by the central authority or council. what is most important is that all these authorities have to work ad idem as they all have a common object to achieve i.e. of proper imparting of education an ensuring maintenance of proper standards of education, examination and ensuring proper infrastructure for betterment of educational system. only if all these authorities work in a co-ordinated manner and with co-operation they would be able to achieve the very object for which all these entities exist admission to professional courses: [swatanter kumar, c.j.,a.p. deshpande & smt. nishita mhatre, jj] admission schedule - interference by courts held, all the expert bodies viz. aicte as well as directorate of education in consultation with the departments of the state regulating the process of admission and maintenance of standards of education had notified a legal binding document specifying dates and schedule for various matters in relation to admission of students and commencement of courses. there has to be so compelling circumstances and grounds before the court to interfere with the prescribed schedule. it is neither so arbitrary nor so perverse, keeping in view the essential features relating to imparting education to professional courses that it should invite judicial chastisement to the extent of laying down entirely new schedule. merely because there has been some delay on the part of either of these authorities to timely grant of either of these authorities to timely grant or decline approval and permission to commence a course per se would not be sufficient ground for disturbing the notified schedule and timely commencement of courses. - sheela, differing from her husband, says that madhu insistedupon she had her husband residing separately from his parents, because toquote sheela 'the family of rakesh was not good'.the flat in lavkushapartment was said to have been purchased by madhu with cash madeavailable by keshavchandra. she speaks of having beenthe first one to pick up the phone call made on the night of 12.9.1986.the words uttered by the caller were that madhu was not feeling well andwas exclaiming that rakesh should not be allowed to touch her body. secondly, it lies in the harassment of the woman where suchharassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meetany unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on accountof failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand.s.m. daud, j.1. a mother and son seek the quashing ofproceedings initiated against them by the chambur police station attributing tothem the commission of offences punishable under sections 306 and 498-aread with section 114 of the indian penal code.2. petitioner rakesh is the soli of deceased ramnath saigal andpetitioner no. 3 raj. rakesh got married to deceased madhu alias prapti inthe month of february 1986. from what madhu's parents say it wouldappear that both of them were opposed to her marrying rakesh. rakeshhad a child by a previous marriage, the child being a daughter namedkaniksha. madhu was averse to rakesh even meeting kaniksha, much lesswas she prepared to allow the father and daughter to live together. on12.9.1986, madhu while at the flat, which was the marital home of the couple,consumed a pesticide known as 'baygon'. she was rushed by the neighboursto the sion hospital. despite attempts made to save her, madhu died ofpoisoning. on a report made by madhu's father keshavchandra khosla, thechembur police registered an offence against rakesh and his parents. thethree were said to have treated madhu cruelly, which cruelty amounted to theabetment of suicide by madhu. it was this which led madhu to consumepoison. the chembur police in the course of the investigation recorded furtherstatements of keshavchandra, k. chandrasama branch manager of the vijayabank, dayaram lalwani, manager of the kukraja construction company,smt. sahani, govind ramchandra batra, sheela khosla, mother of madhu, anddr. d.g. sinkar. on the basis of three statements, the chembur police haslodged a charge-sheet in the court of the 11th addl. chief metropolitanmagistrate, kurla at bombay. that charge-sheet is sought to be quashed bythe present petition.3. during the pendency of the petition ramnath saigal, father ofrakesh and husband of raj, has expired. the limited point for determinationis whether any case warranting the commitment of the petitioners to the courtof sessions or framing a charge against them for the commission of any offencetriable by a magistrate is made out i find in the negative for the reasonsgiven below :4. keshavchandra describes how madhu came into contact withrakesh. rakesh had a daughter from a previous wife named neelam aftermadhu came to know about the previous marriage and the existence of thechild, she made it clear that she did not want to be saddled with the responsibility of looking after the child. according to keshavchandra, the disinclinationwas on account of her desire to avoid being faced with allegations commonlvlevelled against step-mothers. witness then speaks of a flat having been bookedby the couple in the lavkush apartment, the consideration for which accordingto keshavchandra, came entirely from him. this claim to having financed thepurchase of the flat is falsified by the statement of chandrasama and dayaramlalwani. the first named person is the branch manager of the vijaya bankchembur branch. he says that the certificate which was encashed stood in thename of ramnath saigal i.e. the deceased father of rakesh. the proceedswere utilised for paying off the builder, viz. kukraja construction co. thisversion is corroborated by dayaram lalwani who says that the entire consideration for the flat was paid in three instalments, the first two being paid byrakesh and last by ramnath saigal. in his statement to the policekeshavchandra has not cared to explain how he financed the acquisition of theflat in the name of madhu. it is true that the flat stood in the name of madhu.but that may seem to have been for reasons other than the fact that madhu'sparents or father had anything to do with the payment of consideration to thebuilders. keshavchandra says that madhu was disinclined to accept the adviceof rakesh that she dispose of the flat or to transfer is in his name so that hecould sell it of, mortage, or acquire a hold over the ownership of the flataccording to keshavchandra, it was madhu's disinclination to accept theadvice which led to her being tortured. witness then goes on to say thatmadhu was being beaten even before her marriage by rakesh. assuming thisto be true, the offence would not be that punishable under section 498a of theipc. keshavchandra says that even after the marriage, madhu was beingbeaten and tortured by rakesh however, the couple had settled the matteramicably and the settlement had taken place at the residence ofkeshavchandrawith him playing and active part as a mediator. in the month of may 1986 rakesh is said to have disappeared for about a month without giving anyprevious intimation to madhu. the object, according to keshavchandra, wasto force madhu to succumb to his demand for the transfer of the flat to hisname. keshavchandra has relied freely on his imagination to allege thatrakesh's parents were actively instigating their son to torture madhu this heclaims to have learnt from madhu's neighbours. not a single neighbour hasbeen examined by the investigating agency to elicit corroborative materialwitness then goes on to speak of what took place on 12 9 1986 at about10.45 p.m. he received a telephone call informing him of madhu lying unconscious and being in a serious condition. he therefore went with his wife andson to the lavkush apartment, where they were told of the daughter havingbeen removed to the sion hospital. at the sion hospital where the trio laterwent, the neighbours are said to have informed the parents of a request madeby madhu that rakesh should not be allowed to touch her body after herdeath. again, no corroboration is forthcoming for this statement allegedlymade by madhu. keshavchandra says that he learnt of madhuhaving consumed baygon from the neighbours of the unfortunate woman according tohim the information given by neighbours to him was that rakesh had torturedmadhu. he was sure that but for the torture and harassment to which madhuhad been subjected to by rakesh and his parents, she would not have committed suicide. witness had made over a certain number of documents none of these established that the acquisition of the flat in the lavkush apartment was wasby means of finance provided by keshavchandra. i now turn to the statementof madhu's mother sheela. she claims that rakesh an eminently unsuitableperson as a husband for madhu had so bewitched her that she refused tosee reason and allowed herself to be persuaded into marrying rakesh. tosound effective, rakesh is said to have once taken an over-dose of sleepingtablets which brought him to the verge of death. therefore, she i.e. sheelarelented and gave her consent to the daughter marrying rakesh. on oneoccasion, the couple were admitted to the nanavati hospital as both hadconsumed some tablets. questioned on the subject, madhu is said to have toldher mother that the tablets had been given to her by rakesh preparatory tosome sort of a suicide pact. from sheela we learn that madhu was totallyuniformed of rakesh being a divorce. before marrying madhu, rakesh hadproduced a paper purporting to be a copy of a decree of divorce between himand neelam. sheela, differing from her husband, says that madhu insistedupon she had her husband residing separately from his parents, because toquote sheela 'the family of rakesh was not good'. the flat in lavkushapartment was said to have been purchased by madhu with cash madeavailable by keshavchandra. the cash is said to have been deposited in theaccount of madhu with the bank. whatever deposits may have been made bykeshavchandra in the account of madhu, the money for the purchase of theflat in the lavkush apartment came from rakesh and his father, as is clearfrom the testimony of chandrasama and lalwani. she speaks of having beenthe first one to pick up the phone call made on the night of 12.9.1986.the words uttered by the caller were that madhu was not feeling well andwas exclaiming that rakesh should not be allowed to touch her body. this isnot what the caller has to say, as i shall show from her statement, to which iwill some later, sheela speaks of people assembled at lavkush apartmentgiving the information of madhu's removal to sion hospital and her tellingthem that rakesh was not to be allowed to touch her body. madhu on hervisits to sheela informed her mother of rakesh wanting her to dispose of theflat so that her could utilise the proceeds for his newly started business. herin-laws also were supposed to have suggested that she act in conformity withthe demand made by rakesh. assuming all this to be true, can it be said thata case of cruelty under section 498-a ipc is made out for the purposes ofthat section the expression cruelty has a special meaning. first it means, anywilful conduct which is 5f such a nature as is likely to drive the woman tocommit suicide or to cause grave injury or danger to life, limb or health of thewoman. secondly, it lies in the harassment of the woman where suchharassment is with a view to coercing her or any person related to her to meetany unlawful demand for any property or valuable security or is on accountof failure by her or any person related to her to meet such demand. it cannotbe said that the first type is attracted to the facts of this case; for what we getfrom the statement of madhu's refusal to fall in with the suggestion of rakeshand his parents that the flat be disposed of so as to enable rakesh to utilise theproceeds for his business purposes. from the evidence of the bank managerand the builder it is clear that the flat was an acquisition of rakesh and hisfather, though in the name of madhu. as ordinarily understood, madhushould not have resented the demand made for its disposal by persons whowhere the true owners thereof. it was argued that whatever be the source forthe acquisition of the flat, it stood in madhu's name and she had a right torefuse to agree to any proposal to alienate the same. but when assessingthe nature of conduct which is likely to drive a woman to commit suicide orcause grave injury or danger to her life, limb or health, we must go by thenormal woman's reactions placed in such a pesition. now, a normal womanwould see nothing objectionable in the demand of her husband or in-laws forthe disposal of the flat which was an acquisition of theirs for the purpose ofmeeting the needs of the husband to get on in the world. next, can it be saidthat the doings or omissions of rakesh and his parents constituted harassment?but the harassment has to be linked coercion so as to compel the woman toaccede to an unlawful demand for any property. here, the demand made byrakesh and/or his parents for the sale of the flat could not be said to be anunlawful demand. the property had been acquired with their funds andrakesh wanted the proceeds which the disposal was to fetch for his legitimatepurposes. the demand for the disposal of the flat would therefore not beunlawful within the contemplation of clause (b) of section 498-a. thereremains the allegation of the parents of madhu about rakesh doing this orthat and disappearing with a view to compel madhu to carry out his dictates.these are bare assertions not supported by the statements of the neighboursand moreover are a mix-up of what allegedly took place before as also afterthe marriage.5. the neighbours positively differ from the parents of madhu as towhat she is said to have stated on 12.9.1986. smt. sahani from whoseresidence keshavchandra was telephoned speaks of madhu coming to her flatin distraught condition and telling her that she had consumed baygon. whenasked why she had so done, madhu gave no reply. on behalf of madhu shegave a message to keshavchandra. smt. sahani does not say that she had spokento sheela khosla, whether on the first occasion or at any other time. madhuhad rushed back to her flat and had shut the door thereof. when the residentsassembled by smt. sahani forced the door open, madhu was found lying unconscious and she was shifted to the sion hospital. smt. sahani says that she hadnot noticed any quarrel between the spouses taking place. this was becausethe couple kept themselves to themselves and were unfamiliar with the sahanis.when questioned specifically as to what could have led madhu to commitsuicide, witness came out with a blank 'i cannot say'. 'witness batra was oneof those who forced his way into madhu's flat. when batra asked madhuas to what had happened, she told him that she had consumed baygon bymistake which consumption had given rise to vomiting. witness does notknow about the relations, between the husband and wife. the last neighbouris dr. sinkar. he came on the scene a little after the other neighbours, whenmadhu exclaimed that she be shifted to the hospital. nearly 3/4th of thebaygon can of half a litre was empty. in other words, madhu had taken afatal dose. she was taken to the sion hospital and treatment given to her.however, there was no reprieve and at about 2.15 a.m. madhu passed away. .now from all this what we learn is that keshavchandra and sheela havegrossly exaggerated the true position. madhu, far from making any statementthat rakesh was not to touch her body after her death, said nothing on thesubject. in fact she made it clear that she had consumed baygon by mistake.this plea was of course not true for no one can consume near about 3/4th ofa half litre can of baygon by mistake. madhu seems to have done so out ofdesign. nonetheless, it was not the doing of rakesh or his mother which hadled madhu to consume baygon on 12.9.1986. a possible explanation for theconsumption of a sure-killer by madhu was her displeasure at the suspectedmeetings which rakesh was having with his daughter by the first marriage.rakesh may have been meeting the daughter and may have been doing sodespite the knowledge that these meetings were not to the liking of his newly-married wife madhu. but meeting a daughter by the first marriage against thewishes of the second wife can hardly fall within the definition of 'cruelty'contemplated by the clause 2 of section 498-a of the ipc. apparently,madhu was attempting gentle intimation upon rakesh but in the processtook an overdose thereby killing herself. be that as it may, neither her husbandnor the husband's parents are in anyway responsible for her putting an end toher life. the issue process order is hereby quashed and the bail bonds furnishedby and on behalf of the petitioners rakesh and raj stand cancelled. rule inthese terms made absolute.