New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (January 29) ruled that domicile-based reservation in post graduate (PG) medical seats is impermissible and termed the practice as “unconstitutional” for being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.
A bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Sudhanshu Dhulia and S.V.N. Bhatti held that providing domicile-based reservations in PG medical colleges within the state quota is “constitutionally impermissible,” reported LiveLaw.
“Residence-based reservation in PG medical courses is clearly violative of Article 14 of the Constitution. “We are all domiciles in the territory of India. There is nothing like a provincial or state domicile. There is only one domicile. We are all residents of India. We have the right to choose residence anywhere in India and to carry out trade and profession anywhere in the country,” said the bench in its verdict.
The Supreme Court said that while the Constitution gives us the right to choose admission in educational institutions across India, the benefit of reservation in educational institutions, including medical colleges, for those who reside in a particular state can be given to a certain degree only in MBBS courses.
“But considering the importance of specialised doctors in PG medical courses, reservation in higher levels on the basis of residence would be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution,” said the court.
However, the bench made it clear that the judgment will not affect the domicile reservation already granted and students who are undergoing PG courses and those who have already passed out from such residence category would not be impacted by the verdict.
