R. S. NAIDU, J. ( 1 ) THE petitioner, a lady, aspiring to be a doctor, appeared at the Joint Entrance Examination (in short 'j. E. E. ') (E and M), 2000 (Orissa) conducted by an independent body entrusted with the onerous duty of selecting candidates for admission into Medical and Engineering courses. In the merit list prepared by J. E. E. the petitioner's rank is at Serial No. 41. In consonance with the merit list, she was not found qualified for taking admission in M. B. B. S. course, but she was found eligible for taking admission in BDS stream. Accordingly, after counselling, she has taken admission in BDS Stream of S. C. B. Medical college, Cuttack. ( 2 ) IT is pertinent to mention here that out of total seats both, in M. B. B. S. and BDS courses, some seats are kept reserved for children of servicemen and Green Card holders etc. It is alleged by the petitioner that on enquiry she has come to know, from reliable source, that two seats in M. B. B. S. Stream have remained vacant at M. K. C. G. Medical College, Berhampur, and some seats in other two medical colleges have remained vacant due to either non-availability of candidates belonging to Reserve Category or due to the fact that some students who have taken admission, subsequently quit the course. ( 3 ) THE sole grievance of the petitioner is that without allowing the seats of M. B. B. S. course to remain vacant, the petitioner should be permitted to take admission in M. B. B. S. course against any of the aforesaid vacancies. The petitioner states that she has submitted a representation before the State Government on 20-11-2000 to consider her case, but till date no action has been taken. ( 4 ) AFTER receiving the rule, a counter affidavit has been filed on behalf of opp. parties 2, 5, 6 and 7. In paragraph-6 of the counter, it has been averred as follows " xx xx xx xx as per the records available, the present vacant position under M. B. B. S. Course in the three Government Medical Colleges for 2000 batch are as follows :- name of the College no. of the seats. S. C. B. Medical College, Cuttack nil v. S. S. Medical college, Burla. 1 m. K. C. G. Medical College, Berhampur. of the seats. S. C. B. Medical College, Cuttack nil v. S. S. Medical college, Burla. 1 m. K. C. G. Medical College, Berhampur. 3 xx xx xx xx ( 5 ) THE stand taken in the counter affidavit, thus clearly and unambiguously reveals that in fact, one seat in V. S. S. Medical College, Burla and 3 seats in M. K. C. G. Medical College, Berhampur are lying vacant. ( 6 ) THE counsel for the State, in course of hearing on the basis of instructions received submitted that in the meanwhile three more seats have fallen vacant at M. K. C. G. Medical College, Berhampur. ( 7 ) LAW is well settled that when reservation for any of the category stipulated in the prospectus did not work out and any seat remained unfilled, such seat has to be treated as General seat and the said seat without being allowed to be lying vacant, in the interest of public in general, should be allowed to be filled up by the candidates who have appeared the selection test held by J. E. E. in accordance with merit. ( 8 ) IN the present case, admittedly, the petitioner is one of the successful candidates in the selection test conducted by the J. E. E. However, according to the merit, she was not found eligible for M. B. B. S. Course and was considered to take admission in BDS course. By efflux of time, admission period for the current academic session is over and none of the wait-listed candidates is coming forward to press his/her claim for M. B. B. S. course. Ordinarily, meritorious candidates, if there were any, are entitled by preference and they should be given opportunity to take admission instead of allowing a seat in M. B. B. S. course to remain vacant. Ordinarily, meritorious candidates, if there were any, are entitled by preference and they should be given opportunity to take admission instead of allowing a seat in M. B. B. S. course to remain vacant. ( 9 ) TAKING into consideration the cumulative effect of the fact, discussed above, most of which remained uncontroverted, I direct that the seats in M. B. B. S. course which are lying vacant, as admitted in the counter affidavit and 3 seats in M. K. C. G. Medical College, Berhampur and one seat in V. S. S. Medical College, Burla and any other seat if the same have fallen vacant in the meanwhile as stated in course of hearing, be filled up by calling upon the candidates from the list strictly in consonance with their merit as well as placement in the select list. It is needless to say that if the petitioner comes within the zone of consideration, her position in the select list being 41, she will be given an opportunity to take admission, in the M. B. B. S. course. ( 10 ) BEFORE parting, I feel called upon to mention here that preference should be given to the students who are prosecuting BDS course than the candidates who have not taken admission in any of the faculties, specially in view of the fact that, the date of admission of the curriculum is over since long and if a candidate who has not taken admission is permitted to take admission to any of the faculties, he/she will not be in a position to attend requisite number of classes as stipulated by the Medical Council of India. It is needless to say that the course of the First Year M. B. B. S. and First Year BDS are identical one and the same and there would be no difficulty to exchange from one faculty to the other. In view of the urgency of the matter, the authorities would do well to fill up the posts within three weeks from the date of receipt of this order or production of the certified copy thereof. The conclusion arrived at by me is fortified by the ratio of the decision of the Supreme Court in the case of State of Orissa v. Dr. Asim Kumar Mohanty, AIR 1989 SC 1801 . With the aforesaid observations, the writ application is disposed of. Order accordingly.