Delhi HC notice to centre on plea for removal of Jat quota in DU

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices to the Central government, National Commission for Backward Classes, and Delhi University on a petition filed by four medical students.

The Delhi High Court on Monday issued notices to the Central government, National Commission for Backward Classes, and Delhi University on a petition filed by four medical students.

The plea seeks the exclusion of the ‘Jat’ category from reservation for other backward classes (OBC) in the ongoing admission to post-graduate medical courses at Delhi University.

The four candidates belong to the OBC category.

The Delhi University has 229 degree and 29 diploma seats under the DU quota for academic session 2014 in various medical courses. As there is a 27 per cent reservation for OBCs, “the number works out to 62 degree seats and 8 diploma seats for the OBC category,” the petition said.

On February 25, 2014, the Delhi University had come out with a tentative merit list of seats for the ensuing academic session for the seats reserved for OBCs. The petitioners’ names had appeared in the merit list.

But later the ministry of social justice and empowerment came out with a resolution on March 4, 2014, including the ‘Jat’ community under the central list of OBCs. So the Delhi University started accepting ‘Jat’ student under the OBC list till March 20.

It said inclusion of ‘Jat’ caste in central list of OBC was “utterly illegal being against the binding advice of the NCBC. In fact material on record showed to the contrary that they are a forward Hindu caste/community.”

The high court has directed the central government to reply on the plea which has sought direction to the Delhi University to conduct counselling and admission for post-graduate medical seats for academic session 2014 on the basis of the tentative merit list dated February 25, 2014.