[BREAKING] NEET PG counselling 2021-22 to commence as per existing reservation criteria for EWS/ OBC: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Friday passed an interim order giving its green signal to proceed with the counselling for NEET postgraduate (PG) courses for the year 2021 [Neil Aurelio Nunes v. Union of India]..A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna directed that the counselling be held as per the existing criteria for reservation of 27 percent for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 percent for Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in All India Quota (AIQ) seats in State government medical institutions."The criteria for the determination of the EWS notified by OM 2019 shall be used for identifying the EWS category for candidates who appeared for the NEET-PG 2021 and NEET-UG 2021 examinations; The validity of the criteria determined by the Pandey Committee for identification of EWS would prospectively for the future be subject to the final result of the petitions," the order said.The Court also upheld the 27 percent quota for OBC. The validity of criteria for determining EWS quota will be heard at length by the Court later in March this year.The order effectively has the following implications: - NEET PG counselling for 2021-22 will be held as per the existing criteria for determining reservation for OBC and EWS.- The 27 percent OBC reservation quota has been upheld and settled. There won't be further hearing on this aspect. - The criteria for determining EWS reservation criteria will be heard at length by the Court in March and the decision of the Court on the same will apply prospectively to future admissions..The case relates to petitions challenging reservation for OBC and EWS introduced by the Central government in the AIQ seats in State government medical institutions.One of the aspects the Court is specifically examining is the feasibility of having ₹8 lakh as a cap to avail the EWS quota for PG medical admissions.During the hearing of the case on October 25, the Central government had assured the Court that the counselling for PG medical courses will not start till the Court decides the matter.The Central government had subsequently told the Supreme Court on November 25 that it is proposing to revisit the criteria for determining the EWS reservation. It then constituted an expert committee for the same.The ongoing counselling process for NEET PG courses has been put on hold due to the case and this led to doctors in Delhi protesting against the government demanding that the hearing of the case be expedited and the counselling and admission process be completed as early as possible.The Centre filed an affidavit before the top court on January 1, stating that it has decided to stick to the existing criteria of ₹8 lakh annual income limit for determination of EWS reservation with respect to the ongoing admissions to the NEET PG courses.The Centre informed the top court that the expert committee constituted by the government to reassess the criteria suggested that the existing criteria may be continued for ongoing admissions, while the revised criteria suggested by the committee may be adopted from the next admission cycle.The protests by doctors also prompted the Centre to seek an early hearing in the matter due to which the case came to be listed this week..[Read Order].Follow Bar and Bench channel on WhatsAppDownload the Bar and Bench Mobile app for instant access to the latest legal news.