The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled domicile-based reservation of seats for postgraduate medical courses, calling it unconstitutional and violative of the right to equality. A three-judge bench said admissions to PG medical courses should strictly be based on merit even though it clarified that the verdict would not affect domicile-based reservations already granted by states. "Residence-based reservation in PG medical courses is clearly violative of Article 14 of the Constitution," the top court said.
The ruling is critical since it ensures that admission to PG medical courses - under quotas allotted to various states - can only be on merit, i.e., on NEET, or National Eligibility / Entrance Test, scores.A bench of Justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, and Justice SVN Bhatti said that as citizens and residents of India "we have the right to choose residence anywhere.. the Constitution also gives us the right to choose admission in educational institutions across India."
"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," the court said. The court also said today's judgment would not affect domicile-based reservations already granted, and that students who had completed their degrees based on such selection criteria would not be affected either.
The Supreme Court was hearing appeals against a 2019 decision of the Punjab and Haryana High Court in relation to PG admissions to Government Medical College and Hospital, Chandigarh. The High Court had held domicile or residence-based reservations invalid.
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