New Delhi Mar 21 PTI The Supreme Court on Monday posted for final disposal the petitions challenging the applicability of Economically Weaker Section EWS criteria of Rs 8 lakh in NEET-PG 2022-23A bench of Justices D Y Chandrachud and Surya Kant said We will post these matters for final disposal in the month of April We now have to hear the matter and everything is there in law Parties concerned shall file their detailed written submission We have upheld the 27 percent OBC quota and now we will confine ourselves to EWS criteria onlyAt the outset senior advocate Arvind Datar appearing for MBBS doctors said examination will be held in May and results will be announced thereafterPlease hear it sometime soon Only EWS matter remains If anything needs to be filed from the government side then it should be filed in advance to avoid any adjournment Pleadings are complete in the matter he saidOn February 14 the top court had refused to entertain a plea seeking clarification on the applicability of EWS criteria of Rs 8 lakh in NEET-PG 2022-23 saying it is seized of the matter and whatever it decides will be applicableThe top court had said We have not stalled the process of determining the EWS criteria for next academic year We have said EWS quota will be as per our order We have kept the matter in March for disposal The process cannot stop Whatever we will decide will applyOn January 20 in its reasoned order the top court had said merit cannot be reduced to narrow definitions of performance in an open competitive examination which only provides formal equality of opportunity as it upheld 27 per cent Other Backward Classes OBC reservation in All India Quota AIQ seats in the NEET for UG and PG medical coursesJustifying allowing quota for EWS on existing quota for the current academic year the bench had said We are still in the midst of the pandemic and any delay in the recruitment of doctors would impact the ability to manage the pandemic Hence it is necessary to avoid any further delays in the admission process and allow counselling to begin immediatelyOn the EWS quota the top court had said that it is a settled principle of law that in matters involving a challenge to the constitutionality of legislation or a rule the Court must be wary to pass an interim order unless the Court is convinced that the rules are prima facie arbitraryThe bench while listing the matter in the third week of March said as a result we allow the implementation of EWS reservation in AIQ seats in NEET UG and PG seats for the academic year of 2021-2022 The EWS category shall be identified in view of the criteria in Office Memorandum of 2019On January 7 the top court had paved the way for starting the stalled NEET-PG 2021 counselling process based on the existing 27 per cent OBC and 10 per cent EWS reservations in the All India Quota seats saying there is an urgent need to begin the admission processThe Centre had constituted a three-member committee comprising Ajay Bhushan Pandey former finance secretary VK Malhotra member secretary ICSSR and Sanjeev Sanyal Principal Economic Adviser to Centre to revisit the criteria for determining EWSThe committee in its report submitted on December 31 last year to the Centre said The current gross annual family income limit for EWS of Rs 8 lakh or less may be retained In other words only those families whose annual income is up to Rs 8 lakh would be eligible to get the benefit of EWS reservation The Centre has said it decided to accept the recommendations of the panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit for defining EWS at Rs 8 lakh or lessIt also told the court that according to the panel family income is a feasible criterion for defining EWS and in the current situation a threshold of Rs 8 lakh seems reasonable for the purpose PTI MNL SA
New Delhi Feb 24 PTI The Supreme Court Thursday said Attorney General K K Venugopal has circulated a note stating that vacancies in most of the Tribunals have been filled except for the National Green Tribunal Central Administrative Tribunal and some Armed Force Tribunals AFTsA bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices A S Bopanna and Hima Kohli said the AG has mentioned that some appointments to AFTs and CAT are pending with the selection committee headed by Justice A M KhanwilkarThe apex court made the remarks after senior advocate Arvind Datar mentioned for urgent listing of a plea pertaining to filling of vacancies in the tribunals and challenge to new Tribunal Reforms ActCJI Ramana said Last time Justice Raos bench had passed the judgement in the matter and they had not honoured the verdict and had immediately come out with a similar ActDatar submitted that after the top courts verdict in the Madras Bar Association case the minimum age bar of 50 years in the Tribunals Reforms Act had been struck downHe said several eligible advocates below the age of 50 years are not considered even after the court had said that the age bar of 50 years cannot be applied and such a distinction cannot be madeHe said the court had directed that the tenure of members should be fixed as five years and age of 67 or 70 years but the Centre is making appointments saying it will be four years and 67 or 70 years or until further orders whichever is earlierThis until further orders should be deleted from the appointment letters Once the selection committee headed by a Supreme Court judge has cleared the name the government has no say in the appointment he addedDatar said the Centre maintains that its legislation is supreme and what is shocking is that after the Supreme Court struck down various conditions of appointment in the ordinance they brought identical provisions in the ActThe bench said the matter would be listed for hearing on March 24On September 6 last year the top court had termed the provisions in new law on tribunals replica of those struck down earlierIt had told the Centre that though the government has the power to take away the basis of a judgement by making new laws they cannot be directly contradictory to its verdictsThe legislature can take away the basis of the judgement of the Supreme Court But you cannot make an Act which is directly contradictory to the judgement of the Supreme Court it had saidThe law pertains to terms and conditions of service and tenure of members of various tribunals and revives some of the provisions struck down by a bench headed by Justice Rao last year on pleas including the one filed by Madras Bar AssociationThe top court was critical of the fact that the law was cleared without any discussion in Parliament and had restored the provisions which were struck down and had said the Act is virtually a replica of the provisions which have been struck down in Madras Bar Association cases- II and IIIThe top court had then sought response from the Centre on a batch of petitions including the one filed by Congress leader Jairam Ramesh challenging the Constitutional validity of various provisions of the Tribunal Reforms Act 2021 which was passed during the last Monsoon Session of Parliament and received Presidential assent on August 13 2021The Congress leader in his plea said that he has filed the petition in public interest assailing the proviso to Section 31 along with Sections 37 5 and 71 of the Tribunal Reforms Act 2021 as being ultra-vires Articles 14 21 and 50 of the ConstitutionThe Petitioner is aggrieved by the impugned Act abrogating the principle of judicial independence and its passage being a deliberate attempt to legislatively override the judgement of this Court in Madras Bar Association versus Union of India which set aside provisions identical to those being impugned without removing the basis of the judgement the petition said PTI MNL SA
New Delhi [India], January 7 (ANI): The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the validity of the Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation in the All-India Quota (AIQ) seats in NEET-PG and NEET-UG.
New Delhi [India], January 5 (ANI): The Central government on Wednesday requested the Supreme Court to allow commencement of the counselling for NEET-PG saying doctors concerns for counselling are genuine.
New Delhi Oct 25 PTI The Delhi High Court Monday granted time to the Centre to place before it the record pertaining to the temporary suspension of Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative CHRIs registration for alleged violations of foreign contribution law FCRA Justice Rekha Palli while hearing CHRIs plea against the suspension directed that the relevant record be brought to her on a physical hearing day after the senior counsel for the organisation stated that no order of suspension could be passed in the absence of a proceeding for cancellation of registration When you issue a suspension order there has to be an enquiry Get the record In suspension the challenge is very limited the judge told the central government counsel and listed the matter for further hearing on October 28 Central government lawyer Anil Soni stated that at the time of the issuance of the suspension order a preliminary enquiry had already been initiated as a questionnaire was sent to the petitioner and its accounts were also being audited He added that the petitioner was put to notice by the authorities who have recorded the reasons for the suspension in the order under challenge and sought time from the court to bring on record the relevant documents Senior lawyers Arvind Datar and C U Singh representing the petitioner claimed that no proceedings were initiated against the petitioner in terms of the scheme of the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act FCRA 2010 and till date not even a show-cause notice has been issued There is no show-cause or enquiry in the case 141 days have already gone by out of 180 days of temporary suspension argued Singh In its petition CHRI has sought to quash a June 7 suspension order passed by the Deputy Secretary to the Government of India Foreigners Division FCRA Monitoring Unit Ministry of Home Affairs In 2016CHRIs registration under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act of 2010 was renewed up to October 31 2021 The petition has alleged that the suspension of registration was patently without jurisdiction ultra vires section 13 of the FCRA unreasonable manifestly arbitrary excessive and disproportionate on the face of it being based on wholly incorrect facts and for violating basic principles of natural justice CHRI has argued that suspension order has completely paralysed its functioning threatens the livelihood of its employees and casts a stigma on its reputation A 180-day suspension is a drastic measure that threatens the very existence of CHRI apart from causing great harm to its reputation built painstakingly over three decades the pleas said adding that the consequent freezing of its receipt and utilisation bank accounts have severely restricted its planned programme activities The petition highlighted that CHRIs current Executive Committee has a galaxy of legal luminaries former top police officials environmental leaders and Wajahat Habibullah the first Chief Information Commissioner of India is its Chairperson The other committee members include former Supreme Court judge Justice Madan B Lokur and former Delhi high court Chief Justice A P Shah The allegations against CHRI include mixing foreign contribution with domestic donation and non-intimation of specific accounts In July the court had permitted the petitioner to utilise a portion of its funds in the Central governments custody for the payment of salaries to employees and personnel associated with its ongoing projects PTI ADS SA
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