Madras High Court Upholds The Validity Of State Law Providing 7.5% Reservation For Govt School Students In Medical Examinations

The judgment was passed by the bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice D Bharatha Chakravarthy in a batch of petitions challenging the constitutionality of the Tamil Nadu Admission to Undergraduate Courses in Medicine, Dentistry, Indian Medicine and Homeopathy on preferential basis to students of Government Schools Act, 2020 (Act No. 34 of 2020). The impugned legislation grants a horizontal reservation of 7.5 per cent seats in medical colleges for students passing out of government schools in the State.

The intent behind extending such a reservation is to uplift government school students who suffer from economic, social and educational backwardness, the government had contended.

Previously, Senior Counsel Sriram Panchu, the counsel for the petitioner argued that Article 15(1) cannot apply to a situation like this as Article 15(1) is for very exceptional categories. He pointed out that the government is trying to bring in a class within a class. He emphasized that such kind of classification is a preferential treatment to government schools which must be justified by the government.

Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the State stated that there is a significant gap between cognitive development of students from different class. He emphasized that inequalities within the group should also be addressed.

Senior Counsel P. Wilson, appearing for the higher education department, in his written submissions contended that the allocation of 7.5 per cent seats for students from Government Schools cannot even be called 'reservation', but only to be construed as creating a source of admission for which the state is empowered under Entry 25, List III of the Constitution's Seventh Schedule.

He also contented that such categorization of separate sources of entry/admission is based on an intelligible differentia as has been approved by the Apex Court in its decisions.

It was also submitted that the 7.5 % allotment equated to an institutional preference for which the Government is accorded the discretion. He further submitted that the act had previously been upheld by the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court in V. Muthukumar v. State of Tamilnadu (2021) and therefore, the writ petitions are hit by the provisions of constructive res judicata.

While passing the judgement, the court also directed the State to take appropriate steps to improve the quality of Government Schools within a period of five years. The court had previously remarked that the students nowadays preferred going to coaching institutions than schools and the standard of schools needed to be improved so that no other coaching is required.

For detailed report about the judgment, refer here - Quota For Govt Shool Students In Medical Admissions Justified As They Are A "Socially & Educationally Backward Class" : Madras High Court