The Supreme Court termed reservation for admission to medical colleges in Punjab to distant relatives of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) as fraudulent.
A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala and Justice Manoj Mishra on Tuesday rejected the state's appeal to expand the definition of NRI quota.
The bench emphasized that the benefit of reservation cannot be given to distant relatives. This fraud must stop. This cannot be allowed. This is a money spinning machine.
In fact, on August 20, the Punjab government extended the scope of the 15% quota of NRIs for admission to medical colleges to include distant relatives settled abroad like uncles, aunts, uncles, grandparents.
The Punjab and Haryana High Court quashed the government's notification. The Punjab government had approached the Supreme Court against it.
The purpose of NRI quota was to help genuine NRIs and their children to get education in India. But the move to include distant relatives in this category undermined the original intent of the policy. Broadening the definition opens the door to abuse.
Courtroom Live…
Advocate for Government of Punjab: Himachal Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are following a broader definition for NRI quota admissions.
CJI: You say that close relatives of NRIs will also be considered. what is this This is just a conspiracy of the state to make money.
Justice Pardiwala Upheld the order of the High Court. We should stop this NRI quota business now. This is complete fraud. This is what we are doing with our education system. See the result. Those who score 3 times more marks will not get admission.
Justice Pardiwala: All applicants are from India. All relatives including uncles and aunts. He said that the court cannot uphold something which is clearly illegal.
Karnataka government is also preparing to introduce 15% NRI quota The decision comes at a time when the Karnataka government is pushing to introduce a 15% NRI quota in government medical colleges from 2025-26.
Image Credit: (Divya-Bhaskar): Images/graphics belong to (Divya-Bhaskar).
