Medical admission: HC clears the way for OBC reservation in All India Quota

As per a PTI report, the Madras High Court took the decision of clearing the decks for OBC reservation in Medical admission. The High Court on Monday cleared the decks under All India Quota (AIQ) medical seats in non-central institutions. The High court has given centre three months of time to make a decision on the percentage.

Also Read | NEET 2020: NEET Admit Card 2020 Likely To Be Released On August 29

Also Read | NEET 2020 And JEE Main Delay Likely To Affect Students' College Choices

High court clears the way for OBC reservation in Medical admission 

As per the PTI report, the first bench of Chief Justice A P Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said, “...We find that on principle there is no legal or constitutional impediment for extending the benefit of reservation to OBC in the state surrendered AIQ seats of the UG/PG medical courses in the state-run medical colleges within Tamil Nadu, subject to any further directions or orders of the Apex Court,”. The court disagreed with the contention of the Medical Council of India which said that permitting reservation in AIQ seats would compromise merit. The court mentioned that this argument gets diluted because of NEET examinations as NEET examinations are designed in such a way that only those candidates with a minimum required score is taken in medical admission.

Citing this, the court said, “Thus, application of any reservation rule, be at the instance of the state-specific law or as per any reservation policy framed by the central government for AIQ seats will not affect merit,”. However, the bench did not agree on passing a law against the centre to provide the reservation as it is in relation to a policy decision. The court said that it is issuing the directions which are not a policy declaration or a mandamus to declare a policy. It further added that the proposal to provide OBC reservation is already in place as professed by the central government and is also legally supportable by state law.

Also Read | All India Quota OBC Reservations Directive In Medical Admissions By HC Gets TN CM's Thanks

Also Read | Medical Admission: HC Directs Centre To Form Committee To Decide On OBC Reservation In All-India Quota

High Court news

As the seats of medical admission are under All India Quota, it requires a decision with the participation from the authorities. The court further added that the control of the setting of coordinated standards of higher education is with the central government and the MCI in such matters as held by the Constitution Bench in Saurabh Chaudri’s case. The matter has to be solved between the state and the centre with the participation of the MCI and dental council, the court added.

Talking about the terms of implementation in medical admission, the court said it would be appropriate that the issue is referred to a committee for providing the terms of such reservation. The High court also cleared that any decision regarding medical admission would apply only in future academic years. The current academic year would not be applicable for any such decision in medical admission.