EWS Reservation In AIQ NOT Permissible without SC Approval, OBC Permissible: Madras High Court.
Provision of 10 per cent reservation to AIQ seats for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS Reservation) is not permissible without approval from the Supreme Court of India, but extending 27 reservation in Medical seats for OBC students under the All India Quota (AIQ) may be permissible the Madras High Court has said. The court on Wednesday pronounced judgment in the contempt plea filed by the ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) over OBC reservation in all India medical seats.
Inclusion of 10 per cent vertical reservation for EWS would require approval of Supreme Court and to such extent, the reservation for EWS in centre’s July 29 notification has to be recognized as impermissible till such approval is obtained, the Madras High Court said, according to Live Law.
Reservation extended to other categories – OBC, Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe, PwD – in AIQ medical seats appear to be in order. But EWS reservation in the centre’s cannot be permitted with approval of SC, it added.
The Centre on July 29 extended 27 per cent EWS and 10 per cent EWS reservation to all medical seats of the central pool.
Following this, the National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts the medical exam NEET for undergraduate admissions, issued a revised notification, mentioning the revised quotas.
The National Board of Examinations (NBE), which conducts NEET PG, issued a similar notice and extended registration window of the exam to help OBC and EWS students benefit from the new provisions,
Although not mentioned in the Centre’s notice, the Madras High Court had ordered it to implement the OBC quota and had threatened contempt action. On July 29, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the OBC quota is being implemented.
The High Court has now dropped the contempt plea.
