SC quashes High Court verdict directing 3% sports quota in medical, dental colleges for Punjab
India Today
Supreme Court has quashed the High Court verdict which directed the Punjab government to provide a 3 percent sports quota reservation in medical and dental colleges.
Setting aside a part of the Punjab and Harayana High court that directed the Punjab government to provide three, instead of one percent reservation under the sports category in state-run medical and dental colleges, Supreme Court observed that the courts cannot issue writs to provide quotas.
The verdict was handed out as a result of the Punjab government's appeal against the 2019 common judgement of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which asked for the issuance of a fresh notification for providing a raised sports quota of 3 percent in place of the executive-decided sports quota for government-run medical and dental colleges of the state.
It had been earlier directed by the High Court that one percent quota should be provided for "children/grandchildren of terrorist-affected persons/Sikh riots affected persons in all private unaided non-minority Medical/Dental institutions in the state".
Additionally, the High Court had directed that the reservation for terrorist and riot-affected candidates shall apply to the management seats as well.
The validity of the High Court order enhancing the sports quota from one to three per cent in government medical and dental colleges was examined at length by a bench of Justices MR Shah and BV Nagarathna which decided not to deal with the other part of the High Court Verdict.
The judgement explained that the question regarding whether the high court was correct in providing one per cent quota for children or grandchildren of terrorist or riot-affected persons in admissions has become "academic" due to the state providing reservations, while adding that the "question of law" remains open.
The judgement said, "So far as the second direction issued by the High Court directing to provide for a sports quota of three per cent in Government Medical/Dental Colleges in the State of Punjab is concerned, the same is hereby quashed and set aside by observing that no writ of mandamus could have been issued by the High Court."
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