JUDGMENT 1. - Under challenge in the writ petition is condition No. 2 (a) (1) as well as condition No. 2 (a) (II) of the Instructions for Admission to First B.E./B. Sc. (Engg.)/B. Tech. Degree Course for the Session 1987-88 (for short, the Instructions). The aforesaid conditions are as under: "2. Eligibility A candidate must fulfil the following conditions for admission to Engineering Colleges : (a) (I) Candidate seeking admission in Engineering Colleges at Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur should note that they will be eligible for admission only if they fulfil any of the following conditions : He/she has studied for the last two years continuously as a regular student in a recognised educational institution in Rajasthan, orHis/Her natural father (if natural father is not alive then natural mother) has continuously resided in Rajasthan for the last 10 years, and the candidate has studied for atleast 5 years out of the last 10 year's in a recognised educational institution in Rajasthan. (......rest is not relevant) (a)(II) Candidates seeking admission to All Regional Engineering Colleges including M. R. Engineering Colleges Jaipur should note that they will be eligible for admission only if they have passed the qualifying examination from a College/School located in the State of Rajasthan. They will have also to fulfil all other condition of individual Regional Engineering Colleges as laid down in Appendix I. 2. The case of the petitioner is that he is a citizen of India and bona fide resident of Bharatpur and be was born on December 3, 1968. His father is a contractor at Bharatpur and is living at Bharatpur. The grand father of the petitioner was a permanent resident of Bharatpur and the family of the petitioner has been residing at Bharatpur for more than 50 years. The petitioner studied at Bharatpur from 1st to 5th standard and he passed his 5th standard from St. Peter's School Bharatpur and left the said school on April 30, 1979. He was desirous to get best education and in pursuance of this spirit and in furtherance of the object he appeared in competitive examination and got through and thereupon be was admitted in Scindia School, Gwalior, which is one of the renowned institutions in the country in the field of the education. He was desirous to get best education and in pursuance of this spirit and in furtherance of the object he appeared in competitive examination and got through and thereupon be was admitted in Scindia School, Gwalior, which is one of the renowned institutions in the country in the field of the education. The petitioner was admitted in Scindia School, Gwalior on July 16, 1979 in 6th standard and he passed from there All India Senior School Certificate Examination (10+2) conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education New Delhi in higher second division securing 59.5% marks. The petitioner left the aforesaid Institution on June 30, 1986 and thereafter sought admission in Bharatpur in M.S.J. College in B. Sc. 1st Part and is studying there and he has to appear in the said examination. Thus, the case of the petitioner is that he studied in Rajasthan for more than 5 years. 3. According to the petitioner, the aforesaid conditions of eligibilities are arbitrary and therefore should be struck down. 4. Show cause notice was issued to the non-petitioners but reply has not been filed. It was given out by Mr. Jain learned counsel for the non petitioners that the reply is ready and a copy of which was furnished in advance to Mr. Rastogi. The reply could not be filed because the officer-in-charge could not sign it. Mr Rastogi has filed also rejoinder to the reply of Mr. Jain but as the reply has not yet been filed in the court and looking to the nature of the controversy and urgency of the matter, we are not inclined to give further opportunity to Mr Jain to file reply. We will neither take the reply nor the rejoinder to the reply filed by Mr. Rastogi, into consideration. 5. First of all we take up condition No. 2 (a) (i) of the eligibility conditions of the Instructions. It has already been extracted in the earlier part of this order. Before we take up the said condition, we would like to give the history of the aforesaid condition. Not only in so far as P.E.T. examination are concerned but also for PMT a similar condition is there. 6. In the Instructions for Admission of First B.E./B. Sc. (Engg) B. Tech. Before we take up the said condition, we would like to give the history of the aforesaid condition. Not only in so far as P.E.T. examination are concerned but also for PMT a similar condition is there. 6. In the Instructions for Admission of First B.E./B. Sc. (Engg) B. Tech. Degree courses for the Session 1983-84 the eligibility condition No. 2(a) (b) was as under:- "A candidate must fulfil the following conditions for admission to Engineering Colleges. His/her natural father or natural mother has continuously resided in Rajasthan for a period of last 10 years, and the candidate has studied atleast for 5 years in a recognised educational institution in Rajasthan " In the Instructions for Admission to First B.E./B. Sc. /Engg./B Tech. Degree Course for the Sessions 1985-86 the condition of eligibility as contained in 2(a) was as under:Reservations:- (a) of the total number of seats shall be filled by the candidates beltnging to Rajasthan defined hereunder:- His/her natural father of natural mother has continuously resided in Rajasthan for a period of last 10 years, and the candidate has studied at least for last five years in a recognised educational institution in Rajasthan. In the year 1986-87 for the P.E.T. the eligibility condition No.2 (a) (1) has already been extracted earlier. A comparative study of eligibility conditions as referred to above will show that in the Instructions of 1984-85 the words 5 years were prefixed by the word 'last'. In accordance with the Instructions for the Session 1983-84 a candidate was required to have studied in a recognised institution at least for five years and the words 5 years' were not prefixed by the word 'last'. In the year 1986 as well as 1981 a candidate is required to have studied for at least 5 years out of the last 10 years, about, the instructions for Admission to First B. E. B. Sc. (Engg) B. Tech. Degree Course for various sessions are only relevant for consideration in the present case, we deem it necessary to deal with the Instructions for admission to Medical Colleges in Rajasthan for which Pre-Medical Tests are held by Sukhadia University Udaipur. (Engg) B. Tech. Degree Course for various sessions are only relevant for consideration in the present case, we deem it necessary to deal with the Instructions for admission to Medical Colleges in Rajasthan for which Pre-Medical Tests are held by Sukhadia University Udaipur. In the Session 1986-87 the eligibility condition was as under : "His/Her natural father (if father is not alive then natural mother) has continuously resided in Rajasthan for the last 10 years, and the candidate has studied for at least 5 years out of the last 10 years in a recognised institution in Rsajasthan." In the Instruction for the Session 1987-88 the eligibility condition is as under : "His/Her natural father (if natural father is not alive then natural mother) has continuously resided in Rajasthan for the last 10 years and the candidate has studied for at least 5 years out of the last 10 years in a recognised institution in Rajasthan. The cords 5 years' are not prefixed with the word 'last' and all that is required is that the candidate must have studied for five years in a recognised institution in case his natural mother or if father is not alive then his natural mother has continuously resided in Rajasthan for last 10 years. 7. In the case of Dinesh Kumar etc. v. State of Rajasthan and others, 1986 RLR 1008 , a learned Single Judge of this court had the occasion to examine rule 2(A) of the Rules for Admission in Medical Colleges in Rajasthan, 1985. The relevant eligibility condition has already been extracted in the earlier part of this order and at the cost of repetition it may be stated that the words 5 years' were prefixed with the word 'last'. Under the eligibility condition the natural father or if the natural father is not alive then the natural mother must have continuously resided in Rajasthan for a period of last 10 years and the candidate has studied atleast for last five years in a recognised educational institution in Rajasthan. The learned Judge held that the condition of last 5 years in his opinion has no reasonable nexus with the object sought to be achieved. The learned Judge held that the condition of last 5 years in his opinion has no reasonable nexus with the object sought to be achieved. He further held that the object of framing of such Rules can be two-fold-one, two impart medical education to the best talents and two, to service interest of the residents of the State by providing medical aid to them. The word 'last' was held to be arbitrary and discriminatory being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India. After the deletion of the word 'last' the condition is that his/ her father or natural mother has continuously resided in Rajasthan for a period of last 10 years and the candidate has studied at least for five years in a recognised educational institution in Rajasthan. 8. There can be no dispute that it is the Government which has to bear the financial burden for providing professional education in the State. The Government can lay down the policy but that policy must be in consonance with Article 14 of the Constitution. It is also well settled that reservations based on residential requirement as well as on institutional preference are constitutionally valid when tested on the touch stone of Article 14. In Dr. Pradeep Jain v. Union of India (1984) (3) SCC 654 , the court held that the residential requirement for such pre-qualifying examinations held by the Universities is reasonable and is not discriminatory but the maximum reservation cannot be exceeded 70%, out of the total number of seats. The learned Single Judge in the case of Dinesh Kumar (supra) by referring to the above authorities as well as the case of Kumari N. Nasundara v. State of Mysore, AIR 1971 SC 1439 , in para 23 held that it is well settles; that reservations based on residential requirement as well as on institutional preference are constitutionally valid when tested on the touch stone of Article 14, but then examining the question whether a candidate must have studied for last five years in a recognised institution the learned Judge held that the word `last' is arbitrary and discriminatory being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, and held that the relevant rule :(a) which was under consideration in connection with PMT examination for the year 1985 will be read without containing the word 'last'. 9. 9. We have already referred to the Instructions for Admission of First B. E.B Sc. (Engg.) B/Tech. Degree Course for the Session 1983-84. It was not necessary that the candidate whose natural father or if his natural father is not alive, natural mother has continuously resided in Rajasthan for 10 years, must have studied atleast for last five years and all that was necessary was that such incardinate must have studied for atleast five years in a recognised institution in Rajasthan. The contention of Mr. Rastogi. learned counsel for the petitioner is that requirement that a candidate must have studied for five years out of last 10 years is arbitrary and does not serve the purpose. According to him, there is no reasonable nexus with the object sought to be achieved in laying down the afore-said condition for having studied atleast for last five years out of last 10 years in a recognised institution. The purpose of eligibility condition No 2 is that such a candidate whose natural father or father is not alive then natural mother has continuously resided in Rajasthan for 10 years and he has studied for atleast for five years in a recognised institution in Rajasthan. That object can be achieved if the candidate bad studied only for 5 years in the recognised institution in Rajasthan and the requirement that he must have studied for atleast five years out of last 10 years in a recognised institution does not serve the purpose. According to learned counsel, there may be various reasons, some parents who may be bonafide residents of Rajasthan, send their children for study out of Rajasthan for few years and therefore if a candidate has studied in a recognised institution in Rajasthan for five years he should be held eligible under condition No. 2(a) (i) to appear in the examinations. As held by the courts, the purpose of framing such rules be two-fold (i) to impart professional education to the best talents and (ii) to serve the interest of the residents of the State. If the condition No 2(a) (i) would have only provided that the natural father or if natural father is not alive, then natural mother of a candidate must have resided in Rajasthan continuously for 10 years and that the candidate should have studied for five years, the, two-fold object would have been served. If the condition No 2(a) (i) would have only provided that the natural father or if natural father is not alive, then natural mother of a candidate must have resided in Rajasthan continuously for 10 years and that the candidate should have studied for five years, the, two-fold object would have been served. We are of the opinion that the requirement in rule (2)(a) (i) that a candidate must have studied at least for five years out of last 10 years in a recognised institution in Rajasthan is arbitrary "and discriminatory. We therefore, strike down the words 'out of the last 10 years' and the above rule should be read minus the above words and thus, the rule would be as under : "His/Her natural father (if natural father is not alive,then natural mother) as continuously resided in Rajasthan for the last 10 years and the candidate has studied for atleast 5 years in a recognised educational institution in Rajasthan. We may state, if the eligibility condition is read as aforesaid it will be in the same language as it was in the instructions for Admission to First B. E./B.Sc. (Engg.) Tech Degree course for the session 1983-84 which has already been quoted in the earlier part of this order. 10. The above instructions will make the petitioner eligible to appear in the examination and seek admission in the Engineering College in Jodhpur, Kota and Udaipur, the three Engineering Colleges for the session 1987-88. 11. We have already extracted the condition No. 2(a) (11). A bare reading of the same will make it clear that it is applicable to the seats allotted to Rajasthan, including Malviya Regional Engineering College, Jaipur. We may state that so far as Malviya Regional Engineering College, Jaipur, 100% seats are not reserved. only certain percentage of seats is reserved. It can therefore be said that by providing the above eligibility condition 100% reservation has not been made. We have already referred to the case and we need not discuss any further and Mr. Rastogi, learned counsel for the petitioner, at this stage abandoned his challenge to the eligibility condition No. 2(a) (II) in relation to eligibility condition for admission to Regional Engineering Colleges, including Malviya Regional Engineering College, Jaipur, so far as the seats allotted to Rajasthan is concerned. 12. Rastogi, learned counsel for the petitioner, at this stage abandoned his challenge to the eligibility condition No. 2(a) (II) in relation to eligibility condition for admission to Regional Engineering Colleges, including Malviya Regional Engineering College, Jaipur, so far as the seats allotted to Rajasthan is concerned. 12. Consequently, in the result, we partly allow the writ petition and hold that the words out of the last 10 years' in eligibility condition No. 2(a) (1) of the Instructions for the Admission to First B.E./B.Sc. (Engg.) B. Tech/Degree course for the session 1987-88 are arbitrary and discriminatory and are violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India, and the above rule should be read minus those words and the petitioner shall be eligible to appear in the Pre-Engineering Test for the Session 1987-88 so far as three Engineering Colleges of Jodhpur. Udaipur and Kota are concerned The non-petitioners are directed to allow the petitioner to appear in the P.E.T. examination in the above three colleges for the session 1987-88. Costs made easy.Petition partly allowed. *******