The Supreme Court on Wednesday invalidated the domicile-based reservations in postgraduate (PG) medical courses. Declaring them unconstitutional, the court noted that, "Residence-based reservation in PG medical courses is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution."
As per news agency PTI, a three-judge bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Sudhanshu Dhulia, and SVN Bhatti said that state quota seats must be filled based on merit in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam.
"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 Constitution also gives us the right to choose admission in educational institutions across India," said the top court while delivering the judgment.
While the court stuck down the domicile reservations for future admissions, it also clarified that the judgment will not affect the domicile reservation already granted to students.
The judgement came in response to a PIL that was filed against a Punjab and Haryana High Court that had struck down domicile reservations in PG medical admissions as unconstitutional.
The NEET PG or the postgraduate medical entrance exam is a single window entrance examination for admission to MD/MS/PG Diploma and Post MBBS DNB courses, direct 6 Year DrNB Courses & NBEMS Diploma courses.
