The hearing of the petition against EWS and OBC categories in the NEET PG All India Quota, which was taken up as an 'urgent matter' today will be continued tomorrow, on January 6. This was after Senior Advocate Arvind Datar and Senior Advocate Shyam Divan who represented the petitioners, voiced their concerns against the government's July 29 notification which awarded the reservation, and claimed that changes must not be made to the rules once the games have already commenced.
On behalf of the government, Solicitor General of India Tushar Mehta urged the court to give the green light for the NEET PG counselling, given the "current scenario". He said that the government's order of November 25, which followed directions by the Supreme Court to postpone the NEET PG counselling until the AIQ matter wasn't decided, did not take into account the third wave, and the urgent need of doctors in the workforce right now. The SG also submitted the report by the three-member committee which was formed to review the 8 lakh income criteria for the OBC and EWS categories, which had been challenged by the court for being 'arbitrary'. The advocates representing the students who filed this petition, also cited various SC judgements in the past, which restricted reservations in the Super Speciality courses for medical PG. Advocate Divan said that the notification issued on July 29 "completely altered the criteria of admission by taking 2500 seats." "This ought not apply," he added.
The Supreme Court bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud has set for the matter to be heard tomorrow, where advocate Datar has said that he will further contest the Rs 8 lakh criteria for OBC and EWS categories, and counsels appearing on behalf of the OBC students will also make their points. The SC has issued no word on the NEET PG counselling, for which thousands of doctors across the country has been protesting since the last hearing on November 25.
