The committee examined each case and concluded: “The correctness of this proposition cannot be disputed. Merely because a person has a political connection should not operate as a handicap in his/her being considered for allotment on his/her own merits. But, if from other surrounding circumstances, it is apparent that the political connection of an applicant has weighed in the matter of consideration of the application by the DSB and an allotment has been made in his favour, then such an allotment would be open to challenge on the ground that it is not made on merits but on extraneous considerations.”

The committee in all scrutinised 409 cases of alleged tainted allotments in Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Out of these, in 297 allotments, it found, “the selection could not be said to have been made on merits.” The allottee either did not fulfill the eligibility requirements or had incurred disqualification on account of suppression/concealment of material information relating to their eligibility for consideration or other extraneous considerations. Almost 73 per cent of tainted allotments examined by the committee were found to be improper.

The findings of the committee, holding certain allotments being not made on merits and therefore were not sustainable, led the applicants approach the SC.