NEET-PG admissions: Centre seeks urgent hearing in Supreme Court of EWS quota case

A bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud stated that it would communicate with Chief Justice of India NV Ramana to see if a special bench could be formed to hear the matter tomorrow or the next day.

The Centre on Monday asked the Supreme Court to hear an urgent issue involving the reservation of the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category in NEET admissions for Post-Graduate Medical Courses. A bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud stated that it would communicate with Chief Justice of India NV Ramana to see if a special bench could be formed to hear the matter tomorrow or the next day. Tushar Mehta, the Centre's Solicitor General, said Justice Chandrachud, "There is a sense of urgency. If the court can schedule it for tomorrow."

On Mehta's motion, Justice Chandrachud stated that the sole difference was that it was a three-judge bench case. He went on to say that Justice Surya Kant is sitting on a separate Bench with the Chief Justice and Justice Vikram Nath. He stated that he would speak with the Chief Justice and inquire whether it is administratively viable to form a special bench. The matter was initially scheduled to be heard on January 6.

On December 31, the Centre submitted an affidavit in which it stated that it has chosen to keep to the existing criteria of Rs 8 lakh annual income ceiling for determining 10% EWS reservation for continuing admissions to NEET postgraduate programmes. The Centre told the Supreme Court that the government has appointed an Expert Committee to examine the criteria and urged that the previous criteria be continued for continuing admissions while the amended criteria provided by the Committee be used beginning with the next admission cycle.
Changing the EWS criteria in the middle of the process may cause issues, according to the Committee, which has recommended that amended EWS criteria be implemented beginning with the following academic year.

The three-member Committee was formed by the Centre after the Supreme Court expressed severe concerns about whether any investigation was performed prior to establishing the Rs 8 lakh ceiling for identifying EWS.

Previously, the Supreme Court had directed the Centre to halt NEET-PG counselling till it determined the legality of the Centre's decision to include OBC and EWS reservations in the All India Quota. It had stated that NEET-PG counselling would not begin without its sanction since the court is hearing a petition challenging the Centre's decision on medical admission.