CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) -1- IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB & HARYANA AT CHANDIGARH CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) ANKIT KUMAR ......Appellant Vs. UNION OF INDIA AND OTHERS .....Respondent Reserved on : 27.07.2026 Pronounced on: 29.07.2026 Uploaded on: 30.07.2026 Whether only the operative part of the judgment is pronounced? NO Whether full judgment is pronounced? YES CORAM: HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE SUDEEPTI SHARMA Present: Mr. Ankit Kumar, petitioner in person. Mr. Karan Kumar Jund, Sr. Panel Counsel for Union of India – respondent No.1. Mr. Abhishek Singla, Advocate for respondent Nos.2 and 3. **** SUDEEPTI SHARMA J. (Oral) 1. The challenge in the present writ petition is to final allotment notice No.3566 dated 12.11.2025 and rejection e-mail dated 10.04.2026 issued by respondent No.2. Further asking for direction to respondent to immediately allot 4th Semester Boys Hostel. 2. Petitioner who is appearing in person contends that though the petitioner was in merit for allotment of hostel still the petitioner was not allotted hostel for which he was forced to arrange for his accommodation. He therefore, contends that the respondents are liable to compensate the petitioner for their illegal act. He, therefore, prays that the present writ petition be allowed. MOHD AYUB 2026.07.30 10:09 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment. CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) -2- 3. Per contra, learned counsel for the respondents contends that the allotment of hostel was as per merit. He, therefore, prays that the present writ petition be dismissed. 4. I have heard petitioner, who is appearing in person and learned counsel for respondents and perused the whole file of this case with their able assistance. 5. The only question involved in the present writ petition is as to whether the petitioner though being in merit was harassed for the hostel. This Court vide order dated 06.07.2026, passed the following order and called for an affidavit:- “Mr. Abhishek Singla, Advocate has put in appearance on behalf of respondent No.3 and filed his vakalatnama, which is taken on record. The petitioner appearing in person contends that respondent No.2-University tried to harass him for allotment of room in the hostel in 4th Semester by ignoring his merit, which forced the petitioner to file the present writ petition. Per contra, learned counsel for respondent Nos.2 and 3 contends that e-mail was written to the petitioner on 17.04.2026 for applying for hostel again and to deposit the proportionate fee for allotment of hostel for the remaining days of 4th Semester. Learned counsel for respondent Nos.2 and 3 is directed to file an affidavit answering the following queries of this Court:- i. As to how many students applied for room in hostel in 4th Semester and as to whether the petitioner also applied the same in 4th Semester; MOHD AYUB 2026.07.30 10:09 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment. CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) -3- ii. The respondents are further directed to place on record the list of candidates, who applied for room in hostel along with their merit and the reason for non-allotment of room in hostel to the petitioner in 4th Semester despite the fact that he applied for the same. iii. How many rooms in the hostel were vacant in the 4th Semester itself and if the rooms were vacant, as to why it was not allotted to the petitioner at the first instance. And for allotment of which, the e-mail was sent to the petitioner on 17.04.2026 for applying for hostel again despite the fact that he had already applied while entering into 4th Semester. Adjourned to 21.07.2026.” 6. It would be apposite to reproduce the relevant portion of affidavit filed by the respondents in compliance of order dated 06.07.2026:- “2. That the present affidavit is being filed in compliance of the order dated 06.07.2026 passed by this Hon'ble Court seeking clarification on various queries. The queries are being answered hereinbelow on a point-wise basis, after first placing on record the category-wise sanctioned strength of seats in the Boys' Hostel for the 2nd Year (4th Semester), which is as under:- Total Sanctioned Seats (Boys Hostel) 20 General General (EWS) OBC SC ST 08 02 05 03 02 REPLY TO QUERY NO. (I) 3. That in reply to query No. (i) raised by this Hon'ble Court, it is submitted that a total of Twenty-Two (22) students had MOHD AYUB 2026.07.30 10:09 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment. CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) -4- applied for allotment of hostel accommodation for the 4th Semester (2nd Year), and it is admitted that the petitioner had also applied for the said allotment along with the other applicants. REPLY TO QUERY NO. (ii) 4. That in reply to query No. (ii), it is submitted that a true copy of the list of students who applied for hostel accommodation for the 4th Semester, along with the list of students who were finally allotted hostel accommodation together with their result, is annexed herewith as ANNEXURE A-1 to A-3 respectively. 5. That as is evident from the said annexures, the petitioner belongs to the General Category, and in terms of the merit list prepared for the General Category, the last candidate allotted hostel accommodation in the said category had secured 116 points, whereas the petitioner had secured only 109 points and stood at Serial/Merit No. 9 in the General Category, as against only 8 (eight) sanctioned available seats in the said category. It is submitted that the petitioner could not be granted allotment of hostel accommodation for the plain and simple reason that he did not fall within the merit for the seats available in the General Category, and not on account of any mala fide, arbitrariness or extraneous consideration as alleged in the writ petition. REPLY TO QUERY NO. (iii) 6. That in reply to query No. (iii), it is submitted at the outset that out of the total sanctioned strength of 20 seats in the Boys' Hostel, only 16 seats could be allotted at the first instance, inasmuch as 2 seats reserved for the General (EWS) Category and 2 seats reserved for the Scheduled Caste (SC) Category remained vacant on account of non- availability of eligible/willing candidates in the said MOHD AYUB 2026.07.30 10:09 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment. CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) -5- categories. The allotment list dated 13.11.2025 reflecting allotment of 16 seats is already annexed as A-2. 7. That thereafter, 3 (three) students belonging to the Other Backwar Classes (OBC) Category (who applied for the hostel but did not get the same in the OBC category) submitted individual representations in the month of December, 2025 to the Principal, Respondent No.2- Institute, seeking accommodation against the seats lying vacant in the hostel, citing personal hardship. The said representations were duly marked to the Warden concerned for report/comments, and the Warden, taking note of the fact that the seats in question were lying vacant for want of eligible candidates and that no student stood to be prejudiced thereby, recommended that the said 3 students be accommodated in the hostel so as to mitigate their hardship. True copies of the said representations along with the noting/recommendation of the Warden are annexed herewith as Annexure A-4 to Annexure A-6. 8. That consequent to the aforesaid accommodation of 3 OBC category students against the vacant seats, only 1 (one) seat remained vacant in the Boys' Hostel for the 4th Semester. 9. That it is pertinent to mention that the petitioner did not raise any grievance whatsoever regarding non-allotment of hostel accommodation at the relevant time, i.e., immediately upon publication of the allotment list dated 13.11.2025 (Annexure A-2) or thereafter in the months of November/December, 2025. It was only in the month of January, 2026 that the petitioner, for the first time, raised the issue of his purported entitlement to hostel accomodation. 10. That thereafter, the Ministry of Tourism, Government of India, vide its letter dated 15.04.2026, directed the deponent to ascertain and obtain the consent of the MOHD AYUB 2026.07.30 10:09 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment. CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) -6- petitioner as to whether he still wished to avail of hostel accommodation qua the 1 (one) seat lying vacant. A true copy of the said letter dated 15.04.2026 is annexed herewith as Annexure A-7. 11. That in compliance of the said direction, Respondent No. 2- Institute, vide e-mail dated 17.04.2026, called upon the petitioner to deposit the proportionate hostel fee qua the said 1 vacant seat and to complete the requisite formalities for availing hostel accommodation. A true copy of the said e- mail dated 17.04.2026 is annexed herewith as ANNEXURE A-8. 12. That in response thereto, the petitioner, vide his e-mail dated 17.04.2026 itself, stated that he had already approached the Ministry of Tourism seeking waiver of the said fee, and that he would not like to avail of the hostel accommodation until a decision was taken on his request for waiver. A true copy of the petitioner's said e-mail dated 17.04.2026 is annexed herewith as ANNEXURE A-9. 13. That it is respectfully submitted that Respondent No. 2- Institute never called upon the petitioner to apply afresh for hostel accommodation. The only communication addressed to the petitioner was to deposit the proportionate fee qua the 1 (one) vacant seat, which the petitioner himself declined to do pending disposal of his request for fee waiver before the Ministry of Tourism, and the said seat continued to remain available for allotment to the petitioner subject to completion of the necessary formalities, including payment of proportionate fee. 14. That in view of the above facts and circumstances, it is respectfully submitted that there has been no mala fide, arbitrariness, or violation of any statutory rule or reservation policy on the part of the answering Respondents, and the present writ petition, being devoid of merit, is liable to be dismissed.” MOHD AYUB 2026.07.30 10:09 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment. CWP-11480-2026 (O&M) -7- 7. In view of the stand of the respondent in the affidavit filed in reply to the queries put by this Court vide order dated 06.07.2026, this Court finds no merit in the present writ petition. Accordingly, the same is hereby, dismissed. 8. Pending application(s), if any, also stand disposed of. 29.07.2026 (SUDEEPTI SHARMA) Saahil/Ayub JUDGE Whether speaking/reasoned : Yes/No Whether reportable : Yes/No MOHD AYUB 2026.07.30 10:09 I attest to the accuracy and authenticity of this order/judgment.