Upholding the constitutional validity of 27% OBC reservation in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in the NEET for UG and PG medical courses, the Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday said that merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination.
“Merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity," said an SC bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna.
“Competitive examinations assess basic current competency to allocate educational resources but are not reflective of excellence, capabilities and potential of an individual which are also shaped by lived experiences, subsequent training and individual character," it added.
In view of this, the apex court passed an order detailing reasons for upholding the 27% OBC reservation and allowing 10% EWS quota on existing criteria for this year.
“We are still in the midst of the pandemic and any delay in the recruitment of doctors would impact the ability to manage the pandemic. Hence, it is necessary to avoid any further delays in the admission process and allow counselling to begin immediately," it added.
"Due to this, we hold that the reservation for OBC candidates in the AIQ seats for UG and PG medical and dental courses is constitutionally valid," the bench added.
On the EWS quota, the top court said the argument of the petitioners on the validity of quota was not limited to the permissibility of reservation in the AIQ seats.
“Rather, the petitioners challenged the very criteria for the determination of the EWS, which would not only require us to hear the matter at length but would also entail us to hear all interested parties. However, in view of the delay in the counselling process due to the pendency of this petition, we deem it necessary to allow the counselling session to begin with the existing criteria for the identification of the EWS category," the bench said.
It added that judicial propriety would not permit us to pass an interim order staying the criteria for determination of the EWS category.
“It is a settled principle of law that in matters involving challenge to the Constitutionality of legislation or a rule, the Court must be wary to pass an interim order, unless the Court is convinced that the rules are prima facie arbitrary," it added.
The bench said, “As a result, we allow the implementation of EWS reservation in AIQ seats in NEET UG and PG seats for the academic year of 2021-2022. The EWS category shall be identified in view of the criteria in Office Memorandum of 20190. The challenge to the validity of the criteria determined by the Pandey committee for the identification of the EWS category shall be listed for final hearing in the third week of March 2022".
On 7 January, the top court had paved the way for starting the stalled NEET-PG 2021 counselling process based on the existing 27% OBC and 10% EWS reservations in the All India Quota seats, saying there is an "urgent need" to begin the admission process.
The NEET-PG counselling for 2021-2022 started on 12 January and UG counselling on 19 January.
With inputs from agencies.
