Students move SC on Jat quota

A group of medical students on Friday approached the Supreme Court urging it to clarify applicability of the judgment quashing Jat reservation as they were in danger of losing their seats in post graduate courses.

The future of students, who appeared in All India Post Graduate Dental Entrance Examination (AIPGDEE) 2015 and All India Post Graduate Medical Entrance Examination (AIPGMEE) 2015 and secured ranks in Other Backward Classes (OBC) category has now become uncertain, an application filed by them said.

The students took up the issue because different institutes including Delhi University put them in general category by releasing a fresh list of selected candidates after the March 17 verdict wherein the OBC status to Jats in nine states was struck down.

In their plea, the candidates sought a clarification from the apex court that the judgment would not apply to those who had already applied for admission.

The students, who were not party to the dispute before the court, claimed that the judgment was silent on its applicability of the candidates of Jat community who were midway in their examination and admission process.

“The candidates are bound to suffer heavy losses in the form of an academic year, time and resources, if the said judgment is allowed to apply to candidates who are in a transitory phase in the process of completing admission and enrolment,” the application, filed through advocate Senthil Jagadeesan, said.

The candidates also contended that the last date for filling forms had already lapsed in different institutes like Manipal Medical College and NIMHANS.

On March 17, the apex court quashed a UPA government’s decision, later supported by the NDA government, to include Jats into the central list of Other Backward Classes in nine states, making them eligible for 27 per cent reservation in jobs and educational institutions.