SC asks Madras HC to decide on plea for 50% OBC quota in medical courses

The Supreme Court on Monday asked the Madras High Court to decide upon a plea for implementing 50% reservation for OBCs in all-India quota seats in medical courses in Tamil Nadu.

A bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Hemant Gupta said that pendency of Saloni Kumari's case before the top court was no impediment for the High Court to decide on the issue.

The High Court had on June 22 allowed a plea by the Centre, the Medical Council of India and others to keep the petition filed by the state in abeyance since a similar plea was coming up for consideration before the top court.

On Monday, the apex court said the Saloni Kumari case pending with it regarding the grant of 27% OBC quota in terms of a central Act cannot be an impediment for the Madras HC in deciding on the grant of 50% quota for OBC in Tamil Nadu on the basis of state law.

This is the second time the top court referred the matter to the High Court in recent times.

The Tamil Nadu government had moved the top court against the Madras HC's June 22 order declining to issue an order to the Centre to implement 50% reservation for OBCs in all-India quota seats in medical courses in the state.

The state government contended that the High Court's decision was tantamount to denying relief as the time for filling up the seats was running out.

It asked the top court to direct the Centre to provide 50% reservation for backward classes in admission to the seats shared by it in all India quota in undergraduate, postgraduate and diploma courses in the academic year 2020-21, subject to the outcome of the matter.

Besides Tamil Nadu, another petitioner, T G Babu, also filed a plea against the High Court's order.

According to the Medical Council of India’s Regulations, 1997, 15% of seats in all undergraduate medical colleges and 50% in all postgraduate medical colleges are surrendered to the all-India quota.

The Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of appointments or posts in the Services under the State) Act, 1993, provided for 50% reservation for OBCs, besides 18% for SCs and 1% for STs.

On June 11, the top court had declined to consider a batch of petitions filed by DMK, AIADMK, CPI(M), the Tamil Nadu government and others for implementing 50% reservations for OBCs in medical courses in all-India quota seats in colleges in the state. The petitioners had then preferred to approach the High Court.