Common entrance test requirement under binding admission regulations cannot be displaced by executive order, while improvement exam changes may stand prospectively.

Admission regulations for medical, technical and dental courses were treated as binding delegated legislation with statutory force, and the common entrance test was held mandatory in a State with more than one examining board to ensure a uniform merit standard and avoid discrimination. An executive Government Order could not override those regulations or let the State depart from an occupied field without legislative sanction, so the abolition of the common entrance test was invalid and contrary to Article 14. The discontinuance of the improvement examination was treated as a permissible policy change, however, because it did not conflict with any statutory provision; its operation for the current year was protected, with prospective effect from the next academic year.

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Issues: Whether the Government Order abolishing the common entrance test for admission to professional courses and discontinuing the improvement examination was valid in law.

Analysis: The admission regulations governing medical, technical and dental education were treated as binding delegated legislation having statutory force. In a State with more than one examining board, the requirement of a common entrance examination was held to be mandatory to secure a uniform yardstick of merit and to avoid discrimination between candidates from different boards. An executive Government Order could not override the statutory regulations, nor could the State unilaterally depart from the occupied field without legislative sanction. The abolition of the common entrance test therefore conflicted with the governing regulations and with Article 14. The discontinuance of the improvement examination, however, was treated as a policy measure that did not itself conflict with any statutory provision, though its operation for the current year was protected because the process had already been undertaken.

Conclusion: The Government Order was invalid insofar as it abolished the common entrance test, but the abolition of the improvement examination was upheld prospectively from the next academic year.

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