[BREAKING] NEET-AIQ: Central government to revisit criteria for determining Economically Weaker Sections

The Central government told the Supreme Court on Thursday that it is proposing to revisit the criteria for determining the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) [Neil Aurelio Nunes v. Union of India]..The submission was made before a three-Judge Bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud in a plea challenging the 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and the 10 per cent reservation for the EWS in the all-India Quota (AIQ) seats for postgraduate medical courses.Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre, told the top court that deferring a constitutional amendment should be the last resort but in view of medical admissions, the Centre will take four weeks to revisit the EWS criteria and till then the counselling process for PG medical courses would be deferred.The Central government will constitute a committee for revisiting the criteria, Mehta said. The Central government had issued a notice on July 29, 2021 providing 27 percent reservation for OBCs and 10 percent for EWS in 50 percent AIQ seats.The petitioners before the court are NEET aspirants in postgraduate and undergraduate courses from the unreserved category.The plea filed through Advocate Subodh S Patil said that the reservation was violative of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2018.The plea stated that when there is no data to show that there is inadequate representation of OBCs and when there is no demand for the same, providing quota for OBC and EWS was "not justified."The petitioners raised the questions as to whether there should be vertical or horizontal reservations for these seats, and the criteria for the percentage and its income limit. .The SG informed the Court on Thursday that it is taking a call on the income limits to avail the quota, even as the Bench expressed its reservations with the delay in admissions and how the EWS can could be implemented. The Court eventually listed the matter for further hearing on January 6, 2022. .[Read live account of hearing below].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.