Justice K. Ravichandra Baabu of the Madras High Court on Friday quashed the government order notified by the State providing 85% reservation for students from State Board in admissions to UG medical courses under State quota.
The judge passed the order on the plea moved by C. Darnish Kumar, a CBSE student, assailing the reservation provided to students from the State Board.
On June 22, the State government notified an order providing 85% reservation in the UG medical seats available in the State quota to the students from State board syllabus and 15% to students from other boards.
Challenging the legality of the move, the petitioner submitted that powers to regulate admission to medical courses lies exclusively with the Medical Council of India (MCI) as per the provisions of the Indian Medical Council Act. The MCI has stipulated that admissions to medical courses shall be based on the marks obtained in NEET and merit list prepared on basis of such marks and it does not distinguish between students from CBSE and State Board.
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Opposing the plea the Advocate General of Tamil Nadu submitted that the State government is still opposing NEET. “Two Bills have been already passed in the State Assembly exempting student from Tamil Nadu from NEET and the same are pending for President’s assent,” he said.
He further pointed out that in Tamil Nadu a maximum of 88,431 students appeared for NEET out of which only 4675 are from CBSE. “Since NEET is the basis of admission, to ensure fair and equal opportunity to candidates from different boards, such reservation is provided in the seats available in the State quota,” he added.
However, refusing to concur with the submissions of the State, Justice Ravichandra Baabu quashed the reservation.
