The Supreme Court on Friday set aside the Madras High Court's direction to the Centre which stated that for implementation of reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the NEET-All India Quota (AIQ), it has to seek approval of the Constitution Bench of the top court.
A Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud made it clear that it is not quashing High Court's direction on merit but on the ground that High Court should not have passed the order while deciding a contempt petition filed by Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party.
It observed that the High Court's observations were unnecessary and it was considering a contempt petition seeking implementation of OBC reservation in NEET-AIQ.
"When you are in contempt jurisdiction, you just need to see if the order has complied or not," Justice Chandrachud said.
The High Court in its August 25 order upheld the Centre's July 29 notification for 27 per cent OBC reservation but had said that the 10 per cent EWS reservation cannot be permitted without the apex court's approval. The Centre then approached the top court against High Court's direction.
The Centre on July 29 extended 27 per cent OBC and 10 per cent EWS quota reservation to all medical seats under the AIQ, including seats surrendered by the state medical colleges towards the central pool.
The quota covers undergraduate and postgraduate medical and dental courses, starting from the current academic year. The government has said the quota policy would help marginalised sections get better opportunities.
The direction of the High Court had come on a contempt plea filed by the DMK over the delay in implementing OBC reservations for AIQ seats of medical colleges in the State for the academic year 2021-2022.
Meanwhile, the Bench sought the Centre's response by October 6 on petitions filed by medical students against the Centre's new reservation policy in medical and dental courses.
They sought quashing of Centre's July 29 notification announcing the reservation policy.
These pleas were filed by Neil Aurelio Nunes and Yash Tekwani and have contended that the selection process had already begun for the academic year and could not be interfered with. It added that the implementation of the quota policy now would cause grave injustice.
( With inputs from ANI )
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