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Informist, Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025

 

NEW DELHI – The Supreme Court on Wednesday held that residence-based reservation in post-graduate medical courses by a state is unconstitutional as it violates the fundamental right to equality before the law enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution. Permitting such reservation would violate the fundamental rights of several students who would be treated unequally simply because they belong to a different state in the Union, the court said.

 

The top court said the benefit of reservation in educational institutions, including medical colleges, to those who reside in a particular state can be given to a certain degree only in Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery courses. "But considering the importance of specialist doctors in PG Medical Course, reservation at the higher level on the basis of 'residence' would be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India," it said.

 

"We are all domiciled in the territory of India," said the bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti. "We are all residents of India. Our common bond as citizens and residents of one country gives us the right not only to choose our residence anywhere in India, but also gives us the right to carry on trade and business or a profession anywhere in India." The court said this also gives citizens the right to seek admission to educational institutions across India.

 

The top court said state quota seats, apart from a reasonable number of institution-based reservations, have to be filled strictly on merit in the all-India examination. "We make it clear though that our declaration of impermissibility of residence-based reservation in PG Medical courses will not affect such reservations already granted, and students are undergoing PG courses or have already passed out in the present case, from Government Medical College, Chandigarh," the court said.

 

The Union territory of Chandigarh has one medical college called the Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh. The medical college has 64 post-graduate medical seats in its state quota. All of them were reserved either for residents of Chandigarh or for those who had done their MBBS from the same medical college. Students filed petitions in the Punjab and Haryana High Court challenging the provision of reservation on the basis of residence. 

 

The high court said the reservation made for post-graduate medical courses at the medical college was on the basis of a long discarded principle of domicile, and was bad. It allowed the petitions, cancelling the admission of such students. Consequently, the case moved to the apex court.  End

 

Reported by Surya Tripathi

Edited by Rajeev Pai

 

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