Can't examine issue of admission of meritorious reserved category candidates in open PG medical seats in PIL: SC

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said a matter related to admission of meritorious reserved category candidates to the open seats in post graduate medical courses cannot be examined in a PIL as it would require consideration of various complexities, including availability of seats.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Augustine George Masih also said such an issue cannot be considered, unless a specific grievance is raised by any particular individual.

The court, in a recent judgment, refused to entertain a PIL filed by former judge, Justice Eswaraiah, former judge, as president of All India Backward Classes Federation.

The petitioner contended due to rules continued by the State of Telangana, if a reserved category candidate, entitled to get admission in open category on his own merits, does not accept the same and decides to take admission in another category, where he is entitled to be admitted only against a reserved seat.

Even in such a case the seat in open category should be filled in by a reserved category candidate. He said that if that is not done, there will be a reduction of the reserved category seats.

"The concern of the petitioner for maintaining the percentage of reservation of seats in medical specialities for the reserved category candidates could be genuine but, in our considered view, unless the specific cases of the candidates arise for consideration before the court, such an issue cannot be decided in abstract," the bench said.

Furthermore, the court said, such an issue cannot be decided without hearing other candidates who may be adversely affected by any such adjudication.

"The question involved in the present case would require consideration of various complexities on account of the availability of opportunity to an MRC (Meritorious Reserved Candidates) to slide to any super specialties or non-availability of such an opportunity and restricting it only to sliding to the same speciality from an open category to a reserved category and the resultant effect thereon on the position of the reservation vis-a-vis the position of the seats available to an open category as against the seats available to a reserved category," the bench said.

The court noted the judgments relied upon by the petitioner like 'Ritesh R Sah Vs Dr Y L Yamul and Others', (1996) and 'Samta Aandolan Samiti and Another Vs Union of India and Others' (2014), were related to admission to MBBS course.

The law on this issue is very well crystallized by the Constitution bench judgments of this court right from the case of Indra Sawhney and Others Vs Union of India and Others (1992) (Mandal Commission case) which stated that it is well to remember that the reservations under Article 16(4) do not operate like a communal reservation, the bench said.

This was reiterated by another Constitution bench of this court in the case of R K Sabharwal and Others Vs State of Punjab and Others (1995) and Union of India and Others Vs Virpal Singh Chauhan and Others (1995), the bench added.

"Insofar as the admission to MBBS course is concerned, there should be no difficulty inasmuch as the question of taking admission in the specialty does not arise for consideration therein. The difficulty would arise only in the methodology to be adopted while admitting the students in the Post Graduate courses," the bench said.