NEET-PG admissions: SC to hear matter on EWS quota on January 5

The Centre on Tuesday once again asked the Supreme Court to urgently take up the matter related to validity of EWS quota in Post Graduate courses in medical colleges.

After failing to get the matter listed on Tuesday, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta requested a bench presided over by Chief Justice N V Ramana about the listing of the case.

The CJI said the entire week has been fixed for hearing in miscellaneous matters but the court would consider the plea for posting the matter for hearing on Wednesday before a bench presided over by Justice D Y Chandrachud.

On Monday, Mehta asked the bench led by Justice Chandrachud to advance hearing to Tuesday from January 6.

The matter related to EWS quota in Post Graduate medical courses was raised in a batch of PILs before the top court.

A group of petitioners led by Neil Aurelio Nunes challenged the Centre's notification of July 29 to implement OBC and EWS reservation in NEET-All India Quota from the current academic session in PG courses.

Subsequently, the top court asked the Union government to reconsider income criterion of Rs eight lakh per annum for EWS quota. The admission process also got stayed after the Centre assured to form a panel to relook it.

On November 30, the government had constituted the member committee, comprising Ajay Bhushan Pandey, former finance secretary, V K Malhotra, member secretary, ICSSR and Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Adviser. The government last month told the court that it had decided to accept the recommendation of a three-member panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit of Rs eight lakh or less for EWS.

Meanwhile, a large number of medicos resorted to protest and agitation against inordinate delay in the admission process.

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