Court clears all India Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe quota in PG Medicine
Court clears all India Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe quota in PG Medicine
The Supreme Court on Wednesday approved the Centre`s proposal to provide 22.5 per cent reservation for Scheduled Caste / Scheduled Tribe candidates under the all-India quota in postgraduate admissions to government medical colleges for 2007-08.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice Dalveer Bhandari and Justice D.K. Jain gave the nod after hearing Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam, appearing for the Centre, and counsel for other parties, which also gave consent for the proposal.
For 2006-2007, the Centre did not provide for SC/ST reservation under the 50 per cent
All-India quota following a 2005 judgment, which said it should be exclusive of reservation. As a result, reservation was provided only under the State quota. In May 2006 the court clarified that its judgment did not take away the constitutional reservation. At that time, the Centre assured the court that it was conscious of its constitutional obligations to provide reservation for the SC/ST under the all-India quota.