PG Medical Courses : Supreme Court Issues Notice On Challenge Against HC Quashing 41% Reservation In Goa Medical College

A Bench comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao and P.S. Narasimha noted that the matter needed the Apex Court's consideration.

"...This needs to be considered. We will not pass an interim order. We will issue notice…"

On 03.06.2000, the Government of Goa issued a notification extending the benefit of reservation to the OBC communities in direct recruitment for State services and State undertaking with 27% reservation. By notification dated 22.04.2003, this was reduced to 19.5%. The Government issued another notification on 07.09.2007 to extend reservation to ST category to the extent of 12% of total seats in every educational institution in Goa. On 22.01.2014, a notification was issued and the reservation for OBC category was once again enhanced to 27% and it was made applicable for Government/Government aided Educational Institutions as well. Though the reservations were extended to aided and unaided educational institutions in 2014, the same was not implemented in Postgraduate courses. The Goa State Commission for Backward Classes passed an order on 16.03.2020 directing implementation of reservation for OBC communities. On 22.04.2020, the Goa State Commission for SC/ST passed an order for implementation of reservation for SC, ST and OBC communities in the Post Graduation Course at Goa Medical College from the academic year 2020-2021. Several representations were written to the College and concerned State Authorities asking them to implement the reservations in Post Graduate courses in Goa Medical College as per the Government decision. As the authorities turned a deaf ear, a writ petition was filed before the Bombay High Court at Goa seeking directions to the State authorities to reserve seats in post graduate Medical Degree/Diploma at Goa Medical College. The Government vouched to implement reservation from the next academic year i.e. 2021-2022 and the matter was disposed of accordingly. This decision of the Government was challenged and vide order dated 11.102021, the High Court allowed the petition.

The present Special Leave petition has been filed by the Gomantak Bhandari Samaj, representing the members of the Bhandari Community who are to pursue Medical courses at Goa Medical College and Sarvesh Dina Naik. They were intervenors before the High Court.

The petitioners have moved the Supreme Court through Advocate-on-Record, Mr. Chirag Shroff, led by Senior Advocate, Mr. Rahul Mehra and the original petitioners before the High Court of Bombay, Goa were on caveat before the Apex Court through Advocate-on-Record, Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, led by Senior Advocate, Mr. Atmaram NS Nadkarni and Advocate, Mr. Dattaprasad Lawande.

The petitioners have averred that the decision of the Government dated 22.04.2020 has been set aside without there being any challenge to the parent notifications dated 07.09.2007 and 22.01.2014, which were issued in exercise of power under Article 162 read with Article 15(4) of the Constitution of India. It was argued that the High Court had entered into the domain of the executive and invalidated the decisions dated 16.03.2020, 22.04.2020 and 04.05.2020 by holding that despite the fact the parent notifications were there for almost 14 years, the Government had never before reserved seats in Postgraduate courses at Goa Medical College. The petitioners asserted that the same High Court which had disposed of the previous writ petition on the assurance that the Government would implement the reservation policy from the next-academic year, could not have passed the conflicting impugned order. The finding of the High Court that the recommendations of the Goa Commission for SC/ST dated 22.04.2020 was made in a hurried, casual and cavalier manner, without any semblance of applicable of mind was vehemently assailed by the petitioners.

[Case Title: Gomantak Bhandari Samaj v. State of Goa SLP(C) Diary No. 1112 of 2022]

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