Supreme Court - Daily Orders
Debraj Samanta vs Medical Counselling Committee (Mcc) on 19 July, 2021
Bench: D.Y. Chandrachud, M.R. Shah
WP(C) 680/2021
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ITEM NO.30 Court 5 (Video Conferencing) SECTION X
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition (Civil) No.680/2021
DEBRAJ SAMANTA & ORS. Petitioner(s)
VERSUS
MEDICAL COUNSELLING COMMITTEE (MCC) & ORS. Respondent(s)
(With appln.(s) for IA No.71462/2021-EXEMPTION FROM FILING
AFFIDAVIT)
Date : 19-07-2021 This petition was called on for hearing today.
CORAM :
HON'BLE DR. JUSTICE D.Y. CHANDRACHUD
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE M.R. SHAH
For Petitioner(s) Mr. Vikas Singh, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Sanjay Dubey, Adv.
Dr. Charu Mathur, AOR
For Respondent(s) Mr. K.M. Natraj, ASG
Mr. A.K. Panda, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Vatsal Joshi, Adv.
Mr. Vikas Bansal, Adv.
Mr. Sharath Nambiar, Adv.
Mr. Gurmeet Singh Makker, AOR
Mr. Gaurav Sharma, AOR
Mr. Dhawal Mohan, Adv.
Mr. Waize Ali Noor, Adv.
Mr. Prateek Bhatia, Adv.
Signature Not Verified
Digitally signed by
Chetan Kumar
Date: 2021.07.20
17:31:27 IST
Reason:
WP(C) 680/2021
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UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1 By an order dated 27 July 2020, a Division Bench of the High Court of Judicature at Madras issued directions on the issue pertaining to OBC reservations against All India quota seats in UG/PG courses, both for medical and dental faculties. The High Court directed the constitution of a committee by the Union government through the Director General of Health Services and that the recommendations be finalized in consultation with all the States including the State of Tamil Nadu. The High Court directed that effect to these directions be given from the next academic year, 2021-2022.
2 The judgment of the Division Bench has been challenged by the State of Tamil Nadu in Civil Appeal No 3518 of 2020 on the ground that there was no legal or constitutional impediment for implementing OBC reservations for the then current academic year, 2020-2021. A three-Judge Bench of this Court, in its order dated 26 October 2020, noted that the Committee appointed by the Union of India has examined the modalities for implementing the reservations for OBC candidates in the All India quota and that a final decision would be taken by the Committee after conducting discussions with all States including the State of Tamil Nadu, which would be implemented from the next academic year i.e. 2021-2022.
3 In that context, the interim order of this Court dated 26 October 2020, contains the following directions:
“The Committee appointed by the Union of India is examining the modalities for implementation of reservation for OBC candidates in the All India Quota. After holding discussions with the State of Tamil Nadu and other States, a final decision will be taken by the 11 | P a g e Committee which can be implemented from the next academic year i.e. 2021-2022. The admission to postgraduate courses have been completed and cannot be WP(C) 680/2021 3 interdicted at this stage. As admissions to the undergraduate medical courses have already been delayed due to the public health crisis, we do not want to delay the admissions to the under-graduate courses further by giving any direction to implement the reservation for OBCs for this academic year. The High Court was right in observing that the selection process which has commenced for the current academic year cannot be disturbed. For the aforementioned reasons, we reject the request for interim relief as prayed for.” The civil appeal is pending.
4 We have heard Mr Vikas Singh, learned senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners and Mr K M Natraj, learned Additional Solicitor General.
5 Mr Viikas Singh, learned senior counsel has submitted that in terms of the directions which were issued by this Court on 26 October 2020, the entire process was required to be finalized so that the directions of the High Court could be implemented from academic year 2021-2022. The appellants have appeared for the NEET-MDS entrance examination for which the results were declared on 31 December 2020. It is urged that it is necessary that counselling be conducted so that the students can join their courses.
6 Mr K M Natraj has on the other hand, submitted that the Union of India proposes to file an application before this Court in the pending civil appeal, Civil Appeal No 3518 of 2020, for extension of time for the Committee to complete the exercise which was initiated in terms of the judgment of the High Court of Judicature at Madras. It has been submitted that the process could not be concluded because of the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic and other administrative difficulties. Be that as it may, this Court has been apprised of the fact that an application would be moved within a period of one week for appropriate directions. Any order in these proceedings must WP(C) 680/2021 4 await the directions, if any, to be passed on the application.
7 List the Petition on 2 August 2021.
(CHETAN KUMAR) (SAROJ KUMARI GAUR)
A.R.-cum-P.S. Court Master