NEET-PG: Plea in Supreme Court alleges conversion of Chandigarh quota to all-India seats

A contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court alleging conversion of the Union Territory quota seats of Chandigarh to the All-India quota seats in violation of the top court’s judgment in Tanvi Behl’s case, in which it was held that domicile-based reservation in PG medical seats was impermissible.

“We can’t do anything. It’s only proper that being a contempt petition, it goes to the same judge,” a Bench led by Justice KV Viswanathan said on Tuesday, directing that the matter be placed before Chief Justice of India BR Gavai for its listing before a Bench comprising judges who passed the judgment in Tanvi Behl’s case.

In January this year, a Bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice SVN Bhatti held in the Tanvi Behl’s case that residence-based reservation in admission to the PG medical courses within the state quota was constitutionally not permissible. It had said that only reservation to a limited extent was permissible for institutional preference alone and that state quota seats shall be filled on the basis of NEET merit.

Holding that it violated the right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution, the top court on January 29 this year declared domicile-based reservation for admissions to postgraduate medical courses within the state quota unconstitutional.

“The benefit of ‘reservation’ in educational institutions including medical colleges to those who reside in a particular State can be given to a certain degree only in MBBS courses, for which we have assigned reasons in the preceding paragraphs. But considering the importance of specialists doctors’ in PG Medical Course, reservation at the higher level on the basis of ‘residence’ would be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India,” a three-judge Bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice SVN Bhatti said.

Having declared that residence-based reservation was impermissible in the PG medical courses, the top court said, “…the State quota seats, apart from a reasonable number of institution-based reservations, have to be filled strictly on the basis of merit in the All-India examination.”

The January 29 verdict had come on appeals against a Punjab and Haryana High Court judgment striking down residence-based reservation in the PG medical courses in the Government Medical College, Chandigarh.