The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a batch of petitions filed against a high court order quashing a Punjab government’s notification amending conditions for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota admissions in the state's medical colleges.
A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra made some stinging observations in its ruling as it said the quota expansion move was a "complete fraud" which must be put to an end.
"We must stop this NRI quota business now. This is complete fraud, we have to put an end to the fraud. This is what we are doing to our education system. Judges know what they are dealing with. The high court order is absolutely right," the top court said.
The apex court dismissed three petitions including the one filed by the state government against the HC verdict on September 10.
The Aam Aadmi Party-led government had on August 20 issued a notification that expanded the NRI seat category to include distant relatives of candidates "such as uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins" for admissions under the 15 per cent NRI quota to medical and dental courses in state government colleges.
The high court quashed the notification on the ground that broadening the definition of NRI candidates was “arguably unjustified”.
The Supreme Court, while upholding the HC verdict, remarked that distant relatives of a 'mama, tai, taya,' who are settled abroad, will get admissions ahead of meritorious candidates as per the government notification and this cannot be allowed.
"We will dismiss all the petitions. This NRI business is nothing but a fraud. We will put an end to all this.... now the so called precedents must give way to primacy of law," the apex court said.
What High Court had said
In its verdict earlier this month, the high court had noted that imparting education was not an economic activity but a welfare-oriented endeavour. The ultimate aim of education was to achieve an egalitarian and prosperous society in order to bring about social transformation and upliftment of the nation, it had said.
"Doctrine of merit and fairness cannot be sacrificed only because the students falling in the expanded definition of Non-Resident Indian (NRI) possess financial muscle," the high court had further said.
In another crucial observation, the HC had also noted that if admissions in the expanded NRI category to include non-genuine NRIs are permitted, the prohibition made on charge of capitation fee would serve no higher purpose as the state/private colleges would be at liberty to reap the benefits by amending the provisions according to their whims, which means accepting it by disguising the process.
