No Objection against implementing 50 percent OBC reservation in AIQ Medical Admissions after Supreme Court's Nod: Clarifies Centre

The Centre has further informed the Court that a committee has given the options of following state reservation or central reservations but subject to parliament enactments on these seats of the state.

This comes as a response to the contempt plea filed by DMK against the Union health secretary and others for not implementing the earlier order of the High Court dated 27.07.2020.

Also Read: OBC reservation: Madras HC directs Centre to form panel to take decision; DMK files caveat petition in SC

Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that the Madras High Court had directed the Central government to form a panel comprising state officers to formulate a method to implement OBC reservation in All India Quota medical seats in non-central institutions.

A division bench of Chief Justice AP Sahi and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy had observed that the decisions to be taken by the panel, with respect to the OBC reservation, would not apply to the present academic year but to the next academic year.

Such a committee, comprising representatives from the Centre, state and erstwhile Medical Council of India should be constituted within three months, the court said while passing the order on a batch of petitions moved by the Tamil Nadu government, DMK, AIADMK, PMK and other political parties, challenging the Centre's decision of not providing OBC quota in AIQ seats for medical admission.

The parties had sought the Centre to provide 50 per cent reservation for Backward and Other Backward Classes, 18 per cent for SCs and one per cent for STs in medical admissions.

The high court had earlier observed that there were no legal restrictions in providing OBC reservation in the all-India quota seats but said that it would not interfere in the government's policy matters, except in cases where fundamental rights were in question.

Directing the Centre to set up a panel comprising the TN health secretary and secretaries of the MCI and dental council, among others the Court had given the responsibility on the Committee to finalize the matter related to OBC reservation in the AIQ seats in medical admission.

As per the latest media report by the Times of India, in the contempt petition, it was claimed that the authorities had failed to include the health secretary of Tamil Nadu and DGHSs as the members.

However, clarifying that the Centre has no objection against implementing the reservation, the Centre submitted before the High Court, "We are ready to implement state reservation on AIQ but only after placing it before the Supreme Court in the Saloni kumari case."