The Supreme Court has dismissed a petition filed by a disabled general quota candidate seeking admission to Master of Medicine programme in a medical college of West Bengal.
The Bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) D.Y. Chandrachud, Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice J.B. Pardiwala on Wednesday disposed of the plea, after observing that reservation cannot be altered at the last minute, since it would affect some other person.
The Apex Court told the petitioner to approach it for the next step and assured to make a committee.
The top court of the country said the petitioner must show them how quota seats for PWD were not properly in sync. The issue needed consideration, since they would have to sit down and change the reservation, noted the top court of the country.
Terming this as arbitrary and discriminatory, the petitioner had contended that the State quota had no reserved seats for disabled persons in the dermatology course.
He stated that even though there were 27 seats reserved for physically-challenged candidates, there existed no physically handicapped quota for the dermatology department, which he was interested in.
On the other hand, the Counsel for the state submitted that there existed reserved seats in the All India Quota and not in the State Quota and the petitioner had not secured a seat through the All India quota.
The Counsel submitted, “The State does not give dermatology reservations. The 27 seats were reserved for the physically-handicapped. The State exercises the roster power allocated to the seats. Unless it is manifestly arbitrary, it cannot be interfered with. He applied under general medicine and is holding the seat.”