Kochi: The Kerala High Court has dismissed a plea that was filed against the number of seats being reserved for post-graduate medical courses.
The petition was filed by a few candidates, including one Dr Sree Parvati, who took the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (Postgraduate), 2021, which is the qualifying exam for the PG courses.
The petitioners cited that the current quotas for several categories would exceed the 50% limit on total seats being reserved. The Indira Sawhney case judgment of 1992 fixed 50% cap for reservation in government jobs and educational admissions.
The plea pointed out that with the 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and the additional 10% quota of seats for in-service doctors the 50% limit is exceeded for PG medical admissions.
The court noted that the 50% limit was applicable only in the case of reservation primarily given to three groups — Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes or OBCs.
The state government, meanwhile, argued that the 5% reservation for the differently abled, 10% in–service quota and the 10% reservation for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) do not come under the overall 50% cap. The court pointed out that the government action did not violate any laws or wasn’t against the constitutional principles.
Justice N Nagaresh considered the pleas on Tuesday.