SC rules domicile-based reservation for PG medical admissions unconstitutional

New Delhi: In a major ruling on Wednesday, the Supreme Court determined that domicile-based reservation for admission to post-graduate medical courses under the state quota is unconstitutional because it violates Article 14's right to equality.

Responding to a reference, a three-judge panel of Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Sudhanshu Dhulia, and S V N Bhatti stated that "residence-based reservation in PG medical courses is clearly violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.”

Justice Dhulia read out the operative part of the ruling which said, “We are all domiciled in the territory of India. There is nothing like a provincial or state domicile. There is only one domicile. We are all residents of India. We have the right to choose residence anywhere in India and to carry out trade and profession anywhere in the country. The Constitution also gives us the right to choose admission in educational institutions across India.”

The court ruled that, while reservation for students residing in a specific state is permitted to some extent in MBBS degrees, it is not permissible in PG medical courses, Indian Express reported.

“The benefit of reservation in educational institutions, including medical colleges, for those who reside in a particular state can be given to a certain degree only in MBBS courses. But considering the importance of specialised doctors in PG medical courses, reservation in higher levels on the basis of residence would be violative of Article 14 of the Constitution,” said the judgment.

The three-judge court underlined that their ruling will not affect previously granted domicile-based reservations.

The court was responding to a reference made to it by a two-judge panel in 2019 while hearing appeals against a Punjab and Haryana High Court order on postgraduate admissions at the Government Medical College and Hospital in Chandigarh.