Madras HC says no legal hurdles stopping OBC reservation in All India Medical Quota, gives three month deadline to centre

After a long battle, the Madras High Court has directed the Centre to implement OBC reservation in the All India Medical Quota seats. The Court has also asked the Central government to form a panel comprising of Tamil Nadu officers to formulate a method of implementation of reservation in the All India Quota seats.

The Court has granted the Centre three months to enact the legislation providing reservations for OBCs in the All India Quota in non-central institutions. At the hearing, the bench argued that there was no reason why OBCs must be denied reservation and that they were eligible for it constitutionally. They also involved a Supreme Court order stating that there was nothing standing in the way of the OBCs availing the quota in medical college seats.

The Centre has been asked to implement a law that would ensure 50 percent reservation for members of OBC communities. “There is no legal or constitutional bar against OBC reservation under AIQ,” the court said. The panel that the High Court has recommended be constituted is to also include the Tamil Nadu Health Secretary.

Several Tamil Nadu parties had approached the Supreme Court last month seeking the proper implementation of OBC reservation in the All India Medical Quota. Previously, the OBCs were being provided reservation only in central universities. However, several activists and politicians had argued that since the States were allotting such a large margin of seats to the AIQ, the OBCs were losing out on seats that they could avail in non-central universities. 

It was estimated that the OBCs had lost out on over 10,000 seats in the last three years because the Centre had failed to implement reservation in the AIQ. Several activist, politicians had initiated a petition, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi had also written to PM Modi on the matter. The Supreme Court had refused to hear the matter and urged the Tamil Nadu parties to approach the Madras High Court on the issue. The case was then taken up by the Madras High Court. Several took to social media to praise the judgement and celebrated it as an act of 'social justice'.