Of the 1.10 lakh students who appeared for the NDA's written examination on April 19 last year, only 4,700 cleared the exam. Of them, 338 qualified for training, prior to induction in the Indian Army, Navy and the Air Force. The candidates were subjected to an aggressive shortlisting procedure, consisting of interviews and a stringent medical fitness test.

The NDA, however, chose to induct just 232 when the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) had advertised 337 vacancies. And though the rest had qualified on all counts, they were not given admission. The NDA said it had to accommodate 141 candidates (following a Defence Ministry order) who had similarly qualified for the 100th batch the previous year, but had been left out. This was reportedly done long after the induction process was over.

Counsel M.L. Kasturi, who is representing Vikas Arora along with 24 others like him from Delhi, said by reducing the seats after the selection process was over, the NDA had played with their futures.

The students added that they had worked very hard for the tests and had been declared qualified in all possible criteria laid down by the UPSC/NDA. Two similar petitions, filed by Kanwar Amardeep Grewal of Punjab and T.M. Praveen Kumar of Kerala, are also pending before the respective state High Courts.

The UPSC and the NDA in their response, however, said that those 141 candidates had been inducted on an ad-hoc basis and they had not displaced the aggrieved candidates.

While the Kerala High Court passed an interim order on March 19 this year, directing the petitioner as a candidate in the 101 batch, the Delhi High Court, on Vikas Arora and the others' pleas, directed the authorities to admit the ``left-out'' candidates in the next batch (no: 102) ``either on an ad hoc basis or by suitable adjustment within two weeks'' of the day of the judgment, May 26, 1999. ``Batch 102, which is unlikely to be finalised before June, will also have to be adjusted similarly, care should be taken that the situation does not arise in future. The effect may be felt in a couple of batches by consequent reductions in the number of seats or a suitable ad hoc arrangement,'' Justice Mukul Mudgal said. The respondents in the case are the Defence Ministry, UPSC and the Additional Director General of Recruitment. The court pointed out that the government has inducted more than 300 every year, as its appointment records for the past five years indicate.

The Centre has now challenged thesingle-judge order before a division bench of the Delhi High Court. Government counsel Rajiv Nayyar, opposing the general order by the honourable single judge yesterday, said the actual number of vacancies for batch 101 was just 232. ``The 337 vacancies that the UPSC mentioned in its advertisement were only approximate,'' he said, adding that the `adjustment' of the 141 candidates in the 101 batch, too, was a one-time thing. The court has fixed July 6 to decide the fate of the candidates. A similar petition filed by IAS candidates against the UPSC is pending before the High Court. In that case too, the seats had apparently been brought down, long after students had appeared for preliminary and main tests.