JUDGMENT S.C. Mathur, J. - Being unable to obtain admission to M.D. Paediatrics Course in the Session 1986-88 in King Georges Medical College, Lucknow, for short KGMC, Dr. Madan Lal Agarwal has, through the instant petition, approached this Court for a writ of mandamus to command opposite parties 1 to 3 namely, the State of U.P. The Director of Medical Education and Training and the Principal, KGMC to admit to the Course in question. The petitioners plea is that while he has been denied admission ineligible candidates have been granted admission. The candidates against whom ineligibility is alleged are Dr. Manoj Kumar Singh and Dr. Jitendra Kumar Issar who have been impleaded as opposite parties 4 and 5. A few facts necessary for the disposal of the petition may be noticed. 2. According to the petitioner he possessed the requisite qualifications for obtaining admission to the Course in question. Accordingly he applied for admission as did opposite parties 4 and 5. In para 13 of the writ petition the petitioner has indicated the period for which opposite party No. 4, Dr. Singh has done the house job. It is stated that he did the said job from 3-6-1985 to 26-6-1985 and thereafter from 3-7-1985 to 7-6-1986. At the time of arguments the learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that the period of one year prescribed for house man ship by the Medical Council of India is short by one day in the case of Dr. Singh. In para 13-A it is stated that Dr. Singh obtained full registration with the State Medical Council on 14-6-1985. It is pleaded that the period commencing on 3-6-1985 and ending on 13-6-1985 cannot be counted towards house-man ship. On these grounds it is alleged that Dr. Singh had not done houseman ship for full one year. 3. In respect of opposite party No. 5, Dr. Issar it is stated in paragraph 14 that he did house job from 1-6-1985 to 30-11-1985 in medicine and from 1-12-1985 to 31-5-1986 in Paediatrics. In para 14-A it is stated that Dr. Issar obtained registration with the State Medical Council on 4-11-1985 and, therefore, the period between 1-6-1985 to 4-11-1985 is to be excluded in counting the period of houseman ship. On this basis the petitioner claims that Dr. Issar had not done houseman ship for one year as prescribed by Medical Council of India. 4. Issar obtained registration with the State Medical Council on 4-11-1985 and, therefore, the period between 1-6-1985 to 4-11-1985 is to be excluded in counting the period of houseman ship. On this basis the petitioner claims that Dr. Issar had not done houseman ship for one year as prescribed by Medical Council of India. 4. The Medical Council of India has laid down criteria for selection of candidates for admission to Post-Graduate Courses. It is not disputed between the parties that the said criteria have been approved as Regulations by the Government of India under S. 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and are, therefore, statutory. The criteria relevant for the purposes of the present petition are as follows : - "(a) Students for post-graduate training should be selected strictly on merit judged on the basis of academic record in the undergraduate course. All selection for postgraduate studies should be conducted by the Universities. (b) The candidates should have obtained full registration i.e. they must have completed satisfactorily one year of compulsory rotating internship after passing the final M.B.B.S. Examination and must have full registration with State Medical Council. (c) They must subsequently have done one years houseman ship prior to admission to the post-graduate degree or diploma course. Houseman ship should preferably be for one year in the same subject or at least six months in the same department and the remaining six months in an allied department. Provided that in departments like Radiology/Anaesthesiology/Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation where suitable candidates, who have done houseman ship in the respective subject for the respective speciality are not available then the houseman ship in Medicine and in Surgery may be considered as sufficient." Under the above criteria a candidate seeking admission to a post-graduate Course has to complete one years houseman ship. Before houseman ship a candidate has to pass M.B.B.S. Examination and complete one year of compulsory rotating internship. In cl. (c) the word subsequently has been used. On account of the use of this word the learned counsel for the petitioner submits that the houseman ship should start after the candidate has obtained registration with the State Medical Council It is for this reason that the learned counsel for the petitioner presses that the period prior to the date of registration has to be excluded for counting the period of houseman ship done by the candidate. 5. 5. On behalf of opposite parties 1 to 3 no counter-affidavit has been filed but the learned Standing Counsel has opposed the writ petition. He has also filed a copy of the instructions received by him from the Principal KGMC. On behalf of opposite party No. 4, Dr. Manoj Kumar Singh, a counter affidavit has been filed. 6. In the instructions received by the learned Standing Counsel it is mentioned that there were eight seats available in M.D. Paediatrics Course out of which six were reserved and two were open. Against the two open seats Dr. Renu Sachdeva and Dr. Rajeev Singhal were admitted. In order of merit the former stood at No. 1 while the latter stood at No. 3. In between the two was Dr. Subrata Rudra but he was not admitted as he had not done the recognised house-job for one year. Against the six reserved seats, admissions were made according to merit. In order of merit, the petitioners name amongst the list of reserved candidates finds place at serial No. 1, his merit index being 58.03. Amongst the candidates eligible to be admitted against the reserved seats Dr. Manoj Kumar Singhs name finds place at serial No. 6 while the name of Dr. Issar at serial No. 9. Dr. Singhs merit index is 60.13 per cent while the merit index of Dr. Issar is 59.23%. The petitioners merit index is 58.03%. 7. If the petitioners challenge mentioned above fails, his writ petition will also have to fail because no candidate with lower merit has been admitted. 8. In the counter-affidavit filed by opposite party No. 4 it has been stated that he was fully qualified to be registered with the State Medical Council under the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act and, therefore, his registration with the State Council was a mere formality and, consequently, the period of houseman ship prior to actual issue of the registration certificate cannot be excluded. It has been pointed out that the petitioner also does not allege that opposite party No. 4 was not eligible for registration on the date he joined the house-job. It is further stated that the condition regarding houseman ship laid down by the Medical Council of India is merely recommendatory in nature as it was outside its purview. It has been pointed out that the petitioner also does not allege that opposite party No. 4 was not eligible for registration on the date he joined the house-job. It is further stated that the condition regarding houseman ship laid down by the Medical Council of India is merely recommendatory in nature as it was outside its purview. He has also pleaded that his one days delay in houseman ship has already been condoned by the Medical Council of India In support of the plea he has filed Annexure C-l which purports to be copy of a letter sent by the Secretary, Medical Council of India to the Principal, King Georges Medical College, Lucknow. 9. The petitioner has filed as Annexure No. 3 the papers attached to the proforma for the application for admission to the Course in question. Under the heading Eligibility, it is provided in cl. (c) as follows : - The candidates must have completed one years Houseman ship latest by June 7, 1986, In the subject concerned, or equivalent, as detailed below." In view of this provision the period of houseman ship has to be counted up to 7-6-1986. Opposite Party No. 4 :- 10. According to the petitioner himself, opposite party No. 4 did house-job from 3-6-1985 to 26-6-1985 and thereafter from 3-7-1985 to 7-6-1986. This entire period covers 368 days. An year normally comprises of 365 days. In this manner opposite party No. 4 has done house-job for more than one year. In the circumstances it cannot be said that there is any shortage in the period of house-job done by opposite party No. 4. 11. The learned counsel for the petitioner, however, submitted that opposite party No. 4 was actually registered with the State Medical Council on 14-6-1985 and, therefore, the entire period from 3-6-1985 to 13-6-1985 is to be excluded while calculating the period of house-job done by opposite party No. 4. 12. Section 15(1) of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 provides that subject to the other provisions contained in this Act, the medical qualifications included in the Schedules shall be sufficient qualification for enrolment on any State Medical Register. One of the qualifications prescribed in the First Schedule in respect of University of Lucknow, of which KGMC is an associate College, is Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. One of the qualifications prescribed in the First Schedule in respect of University of Lucknow, of which KGMC is an associate College, is Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery. Our attention has not been invited by the learned counsel for the petitioner to any disability with which opposite party No. 4 suffered for getting his enrolment on the State Medical Register. Since possession of M.B.B.S. Degree itself was sufficient to entitle opposite party No. 4 to obtain enrolment on the State Medical Register, in our opinion the-registration with the State Medical Council was a mere formality and the delay in registration will not have the effect of nullifying the period of houseman ship covered prior to the date of actual registration. In this view of the matter, we are of the opinion that opposite party No. 4 had done houseman ship for the required period of one year. Opposite Party No. 5. 13. With regard to Dr. Issar there is no dispute that he had done houseman ship for full one year. The petitioners case, however, is that the period prior to his registration with the State Medical Council is liable to be excluded. As already indicated here in above, he obtained registration with the State Medical Council on 4-11-1985. For the reasons already indicated this period is not to be excluded. As such, Dr. Issar also fulfilled the eligibility qualification prescribed by the Medical Council of India 14. In view of the above, the petition lacks merit and is hereby dismissed but without any order as to costs.