The Supreme Court Today (Sept 24) dismissed the Punjab government’s appeal against a high court verdict quashing its decision to expand the definition of ‘NRI quota’ for admissions in undergraduate medical and dental courses in the state. “This fraud must come to an end now,” the apex court said.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!
NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court of India dismissed the Punjab Government’s appeal against a Punjab and Haryana High Court decision that quashed the state’s move to expand the definition of the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota for admissions into undergraduate medical and dental courses.
The apex court firmly remarked,
“This fraud must come to an end now,”
-reflecting its strong stance on the issue.
Earlier, on September 10, the Punjab and Haryana High Court had rejected the AAP-led Punjab government’s controversial decision, dated August 20, which sought to broaden the scope of the NRI quota to include distant relatives.
These relatives included “uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins” of NRIs, for admissions under the 15 percent quota designated for the NRI group in medical colleges.
The Supreme Court bench, led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, expressed stern criticism of this expanded NRI quota. The bench observed,
“This is nothing but a money spinning machine,”
-underscoring that the expansion of the NRI quota appeared to be a mechanism for generating profit rather than ensuring fairness in the admissions process.
In further remarks, the court emphasized its intention to bring an end to this practice.
“We will dismiss all the petitions. This NRI business is nothing but a fraud. We will put an end to all this…. now the so-called precedents must give way to the primacy of law,”
-stated the bench, signaling the court’s firm stand against the misuse of the NRI quota for admissions.
Backing the High Court’s decision, the Supreme Court called it “absolutely right,” and stressed the negative impact such expansions could have on merit-based admissions.
“Look at the deleterious consequences… the candidates who have three times higher marks will lose admission (in NEET-UG courses),”
-the court pointed out.
The top court highlighted a significant concern regarding fairness in the admission process, stating that allowing distant relatives like a ‘mama, tai, taya’ (terms in Indian languages for maternal and paternal uncles and aunts) settled abroad to secure seats would disadvantage meritorious candidates.
“Distant relatives of a ‘mama, tai, taya’, who are settled abroad, will get admissions ahead of meritorious candidates and this cannot be allowed,”
-the court concluded.
This landmark decision by the Supreme Court ensures that the NRI quota in medical college admissions remains restricted to genuine cases and prevents it from being exploited, thereby protecting the integrity of merit-based admissions in medical and dental education.
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on CJI
Click Here to Read Previous Reports on MBBS
FOLLOW US ON YOUTUBE FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES
