LexMAHA P. & ORS. versus THE STATE OF KERALA & ORS.
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A B C D E F G H 90 SUPREME COURT REPORTS [2022] 4 S.C.R. MAHA P. & ORS. v. THE STATE OF KERALA & ORS. (Civil Appeal No. 3654 of 2022) MAY 18, 2022 [DR DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD AND BELA M TRIVEDI, JJ.] Education/Educational Institutions: Medical admissions – NEET-UG in unaided private medical colleges in the State of Kerala – Grant of time for fresh registration in the Non-resident Indian quota – Reservation of seats for the NRI quota in private medical colleges in the State of Kerala, if could be transferred to the unreserved category – On facts, out of the 358 NRI seats in the unaided private medical colleges in the State of Kerala, 300 seats were filled up before the second allotment – About 57 seats in the NRI quota vacant – Writ petition filed seeking direction to grant time for fresh registration in the NRI quota seats before the commencement of the mop-up counselling – Direction by the Single Judge of the High Court to the Commissioner for Entrance Examination-CEE to consider the representation filed by the respondent association – On consideration thereof, the CEE held that no further extension of time could be provided since candidates had already been given sufficient time to apply for the NRI quota – Thereafter, few more students exercised their options and 47 NRI quota seats became vacant – Transfer of said 47 vacant NRI seats in private medical institutions by CEE to the general State quota for the mop up round – Subsequently, dismissal of writ petition by the Single Judge – Writ appeal there against also dismissed – Appeal before this Court by the candidates, who qualified NEET exam and had applied under the NRI category, but were not parties before the High Court – Held: Phrase ‘special reservation’ cannot be read to include the NRI quota when the prospectus does not stipulate the NRI quota as a category of reservation under Clause 4 – Even if it is accepted that the NRI quota is a special reservation, the unoccupied seats can only be transferred to the mandatory quota- SEBC and EWS reservation seats – However, the CEE transferred [2022] 4 S.C.R. 90 90 A B C D E F G H 91 the unoccupied NRI quota seats to State merit – Reasoning of the High Court that the respondent could transfer the unoccupied NRI quota seats to State merit by virtue of clause 5.5.4 is erroneous – However, since the appellants have not challenged the provisions of the Information Bulletin which stipulate that the vacant NRI seats shall be converted to unreserved seats during the mop-up round, the legality of such a conversion of seats cannot be decided – Also, the appellants have not contended that the rejection of the representation seeking extension of time to apply for the NRI quota seats was malafide or arbitrary – In view thereof, the matter is dismissed. Dismissing the appeals, the Court HELD: 1.1 Clause 4.1.4 of the Prospectus defines ‘Special Reservation’ as seats reserved for ‘specific categories, for certain specific courses’. Clause 5.2 provides a list of special category reservations which include Ex-servicemen Quota, dependent of Defence personnel killed/missing/disabled in action, serving Defence Personnel, CAPF, and Jewish quota. Furthermore, quotas specific to courses are also termed ‘special reservations’. Clause 4.1.5 which stipulates the breakup of reservation makes it evident that only vertical reservation as mandated by Article 15, that is for the socially and educationally backward classes and economically weaker section of the unreserved category are brought within the phrase ‘mandatory reservation’. Clause 5.5.4 is broadly worded. Though the reservation for persons with disabilities does not find a place in Clause 5.2 of the proposal, Clause 5.5.2 states that, unavailed seats of special reservation ‘including PwD’ would be transferred to mandatory reservation quota. [Para 9][101-E-G; 102-A] 1.2 The Single Judge and the Division Bench of the High Court held that CEE can transfer the unavailed seats of the NRI quota to the State merit quota under Clause 5.5.4. The High Court held that Clause 5.5.4 was broadly worded to include the NRI quota within the meaning of ‘special reservation’. Clause 2.2 states that the categorization of seats in self-financing colleges run by institutions shall be notified separately. It also stipulates that the NRI seats in self-financing medical colleges shall be allotted by common counselling. Clauses 5.7 and 7.6(1) provide MAHA P. & ORS. v. THE STATE OF KERALA & ORS. A B C D E F G H
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