The Kerala High Court recently made a significant ruling, striking down a nativity clause that restricted admissions to postgraduate medical courses under the service quota to only doctors born in Kerala. Justice Mohammed Nias CP, who presided over the case, deemed this clause unconstitutional as it violated Article 15(1) of the Constitution, which prohibits discrimination based on place of birth among other grounds.
In the case brought forward by an MBBS graduate from Tamil Nadu working as a medical officer in Palakkad, Kerala, the court found that the nativity clause prevented him from participating in the admission process for postgraduate medical courses. This clause specified that only Indian citizens of Kerala origin could apply, disadvantaging candidates born outside Kerala even if they were eligible under other criteria.
The court emphasized that such discrimination contradicted the Kerala Medical Officers' Admission to Post Graduate Courses Under Service Quota Act, 2008, and the Kerala Medical Officers' Admission to Post Graduate Medical Courses Under Service Quota Rules, 2009. These regulations did not impose restrictions based on place of birth for medical officers.
Therefore, the court concluded that the nativity clause was unconstitutional and declared it null and void. It also prohibited the inclusion of any similar clause in future prospectuses, emphasizing the importance of upholding constitutional principles of equality and non-discrimination in educational admissions.