SC is already seized of matter: Madras HC refuses to pass interim order on OBC quota in AIQ medical admissions

Chennai - The Madras High Court on Monday refused to grant any interim order on petitions by the Tamil Nadu government and political parties challenging the Centre''s decision not to provide reservation for OBC candidates in the all-India quota (AIQ) seats surrendered by the state for UG and PG medical courses as per the state law.

"The Supreme Court is already seized of the matter and let us wait and see what transpires," a division bench of Justices R Subbiah and Krishnan Ramaswamy said after the Centre made a submission on pendency of the matter before the apex court.

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The bench then adjourned the hearing to July 9. When the pleas came up for hearing, Additional Solicitor General G Rajagopalan submitted that since 1986 no reservation has been provided in the AIQ seats for medical admission as per the apex court directive.

"The same was modified after 10 years, providing reservation for SC/ST. In 2015, pleas were moved seeking OBC reservation, which is still pending before the apex court, which has to take a call and modify the order," he said.

The Centre has made some proposal in the Supreme Court, but ultimately it was for the latter to decide. States have different reservation policies and therefore it was up to the apex court to decide whether it is possible to extend reservation to OBC or not, he added. Opposing the stand, senior counsel for DMK P Wilson contended that the Centre did not approach the Supreme Court before it extended reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in AIQ.

Also, the Centre never went to the apex court when it decided to give reservation to OBC in central educational institutions, he argued. Thus, they cannot drive the petitioners to the Supreme Court on the ground that similar cases were pending, he added. Besides the state government, the ruling AIADMK, opposition DMK, MDMK and DK among others have challenged the Centre''s decision not to grant 50 per cent reservation to OBCs as per Tamil Nadu law.

Some of the petitioners, in their interim prayers, sought to stall the ongoing admissions for PG medical courses. In the PIL filed by state Health Secretary J Radhakrishnan, the government traced the history of reservation policies in Tamil Nadu and said by way of the Constitution 93rd Amendment, the state was empowered to make any special provisions by law for providing quota.

This was for advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes relating to their admission in educational institutions, including those in the private sector, it said.

It sought a direction to the Centre, the Medical Council of India and the Director of Health Services (DGHS) to reserve and allot 50 per cent of seats for OBCs under the AIQ in UG and PG Medical Courses. In their PILs, the AIADMK, DMK, MDMK and DK, among others, contended that the Centre also did not follow its own policy of 27 per cecnt reserved seats for OBCs under the 2006 Act.

This had resulted in OBCs being robbed off 10,000 seats in the last three years at least and many more during the preceding years, they claimed. The PILs have been filed after the Supreme Court had on June 11 refused to entertain pleas challenging the Centre''s decision not to grant 50 per cent reservation to OBCs as per the Tamil Nadu law in medical seats surrendered by the state for medical courses in 2020-21 and asked them to approach the High Court.

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