HC dismisses petition against IPU's institutional reservation
new delhi: The Delhi High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the decision of Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University (GGSIPU) to reserve 50 per cent state quota of postgraduate medical seats to MBBS graduates from its own colleges.
Justice Jayant Nath said GGSIPU is following the dicta of the Supreme Court in various cases that have approved ''institutional reservation'' of up to 50 per cent postgraduate seats.
"In view of the stated legal position, this is clearly permissible. The pleas of the petitioners are clearly without merit. There is no merit in the present petition. The same is accordingly dismissed," the court said in its 32-page judgement.
In the petition, various MBBS graduates and students from Jamia Hamdard University had challenged this policy of GGSIPU.
The plea sought directions to the university to amend its admissions guidelines /brochure for the academic year 2020-21 without reserving entire 50 per cent state quota only for graduates of colleges affiliated to itself by way of ''Institutional Preference'', as was done in previous academic years and to allow Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (HIMSR) MBBS graduates in the state-wise merit list.
The plea, through advocate Samar Bansal, said that this petition relates to ''state quota'' and raised the question whether ''Institutional Preference'', namely the right of an institution offering postgraduate courses to reserve such seats for undergraduate students from colleges affiliated to itself, can be permitted to be exercised while deciding the manner of allocation of 50 per cent seats of state quota. It was urged by them that in the absence of a clear statutory stipulation or administrative direction permitting GGSIPU to allocate the entire state quota to the students of its own university, the same is illegal.
"In my opinion, the Government of NCT of Delhi is supporting the action taken by GGSIPU. No fault can be found merely because some formal communication has not been issued by the Government of NCT of Delhi," Justice Nath held.
