Emphasising what the
apex court held 27 years ago, the bench said it is now “inclined”
to convey the same message to the central and state governments over
reservation in institutions of higher education.
A bench noted that
despite several reminders to central and state governments to make
merit the primary criteria for admissions into super-specialty
courses, the ground reality remains that reservation often holds sway
over merit.
Regretting that some
“privilege remains unchanged” even after 68 years of
independence, the Supreme Court held Tuesday that national interest
requires doing away with all forms of reservation in institutions of
higher education, and urged the Centre to take effective steps
“objectively”.
A bench of Justices
Dipak Misra and P C Pant noted that despite several reminders to the
central and state governments to make merit the primary criteria for
admissions into super-specialty courses, the ground reality remains
that reservation often holds sway over merit.
“The fond hope has
remained in the sphere of hope… The said privilege remains
unchanged, as if (it is) to compete with eternity,” the bench
remarked, adding that it concurs completely with what the Supreme
Court had ruled in 1988 in two judgments.
In these two cases,
while dealing with the issue of reservation in super-specialty
courses in medical institutions, the top court had said “there
should really be no reservation” since it is in the general
interest of the country for improving the standard of higher
education, and thereby improving the quality of available medical
services to the people of India.
“We hope and trust
that the Government of India and the state governments shall
seriously consider this aspect of the matter without delay and
appropriate guidelines shall be evolved…” these judgments stated.
Emphasising what the
apex court held 27 years ago, the bench said it is now “inclined”
to convey the same message to the central and state governments over
reservation in institutions of higher education.
“Therefore, we
echo the same feeling and reiterate the aspirations of others so that
authorities can objectively assess and approach the situation so that
the national interest can become paramount,” the court said.
It also referred to
a body of judgments, asking government authorities to abstain from
relaxing the eligibility criteria basing it on various kinds of
reservation since it would defeat the very object of imparting the
best possible training to selected meritorious candidates.
The bench made these
observations as it delivered its judgment on a batch of petitions,
which had challenged an eligibility criteria for admissions into
certain super-specialty medical courses in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana
and Tamil Nadu. They allowed only those having domicile in the three
states to appear for the examination, thereby making the seats
reserved only for such candidates, based on residence.
The bench said it
cannot interfere with the admission process in Andhra Pradesh and
Telangana since a Presidential Order has created an exception and the
constitutionality of this Order had not been challenged. But it
agreed to examine on November 4 whether Tamil Nadu could do the same
and allow this form of reservation in a post-graduate programme.
Even as it expressed
its inability to adjudicate the constitutionality of the special
privilege granted to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana under Article 371-D
of the Constitution and the Presidential Order, the bench observed
that such privileges ought to be reconsidered by the governments and
steps be taken.
Emphasising
what the apex court held 27 years ago, the bench said it is now
“inclined” to convey the same message to the central and state
governments over reservation in institutions of higher education. - See
more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/in-national-interest-scrap-quota-in-higher-education-institutions-supreme-court/#sthash.W5RMACmm.dpuf
Emphasising
what the apex court held 27 years ago, the bench said it is now
“inclined” to convey the same message to the central and state
governments over reservation in institutions of higher education. - See
more at:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/in-national-interest-scrap-quota-in-higher-education-institutions-supreme-court/#sthash.W5RMACmm.dpuf
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