Supreme Court Upholds West Bengal Condition Of 3 Years Minimum Service In Remote Areas For In-Service Quota

The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the plea of 4 doctors challenging the West Bengal state notification of October, 2021 extending the condition of three years' minimum service in remote/difficult/ rural areas for being considered as eligible for the in-service quota.The effect of the notification is that for availing of state quota seats in post- graduate medical courses, the in-service candidates would be required to serve in rural/ remote/difficult areas for a minimum of three years as on April 30 of the academic year for being considered as eligible for the benefits of reservation of 40% of the seats in the state government/private colleges in West Bengal. The petitioners were graduate doctors who are serving as Medical Officers in different hospitals in the state and have all qualified in the NEET-PG Examination, 2021.The bench of Justices D. Y. Chandrachud and Surya Kant was hearing an SLP against the January 18 order of the Single Judge of the Calcutta High Court on a writ petition where, as recorded in the impugned order, "the essential challenge is of notification dated 8th October, 2021 which, according to the petitioners, has extended the condition of three years' minimum service in remote/difficult/ rural areas for in service quota which according to the petitioners was not part of the rules or the Supreme Court order". The Single Judge had disposed off the writ petition by passing the following order-"There is no scope for any interim order at this stage. However, on the prayer of the learned counsel appearing of the petitioners, let the representation made by the petitioners to the Special Secretary, Department of Health and Family Welfare and received by the latter on 30th December, 2021 be considered by the recipient of the representation by disposing of the reasoned order. The reasoned order shall be passed within two weeks from the date of communication of this order upon hearing all relevant parties. A copy of the reasoned order shall be made available to the petitioners within four days from the date on which such reasoned order is passed." On February 14, a division bench of the High Court dismissed as non-maintainable the appeal against the Single Judge's order.Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan for the petitioners advanced, "Couple of developments since the last date (March 4, when notice was issued)- we have formally been rejected on 9 March. The reason for the rejection is the fact that we haven't done this three-year service in rural areas. Your Lordships would recall that my argument last time was that since the notification by the state of West Bengal had come on 8 October 2021, which is a month and a half after the exam was taken and definitely after the NEET announcement, the bulletin etc, they could not have made that change after the exam was taken, after the game was already in play. The extant notification is of 18 April 2013. This notification, among the notification by other states of Tamil Nadu etc, which provided for in-service considerations, were all subject matter of that Constitution bench judgment in the Tamil Nadu medical officers case (2021 6 SCC 568; dated August 31, 2020). This notification was also challenged among the notification of various states. In para 98 of the judgment, the bench said that the appeals are allowed and the writ petition before the High Court stands dismissed. Therefore, that notification was restored which had been struck down by the High Court. The date of this Constitution bench judgment is 31 August 2020. For the PG exam 2021, this notification was in force, pursuant to the Supreme Court judgment."Continuing, he advanced, "The constitution bench says 'The memorandum dated 18th April, 2013 is restored and the writ petition filed in the High Court at Calcutta (W.P. No.8990(W) of 2019) shall stand dismissed'. If Your Lordships see that notification, it makes no reference to this rural service, difficult area service. And this is the notification that applied. So we all take our exams in September 2021, results are declared on 28 September 2021 and it is only thereafter on 8 October 2021 that this notification comes in. This date your lordships have also taken note of in Neil Aurelio Nunes (EWS/OBC reservation in NEET-AIQ matter). In that reservation context, your lordships have listed all these dates. Your Lordships may recall that your Lordships considered this very issue of changing the rules of the game and Your Lordships decided to not interfere because the rules had already been there before the game started. Here it is completely opposite. In my submission, Your Lordships have gone through the entire history in Neil's case and it is in the same facts of PG. Therefore this belated requirement being thrust on us would not be entirely fair."Senior Advocate Rakesh Dwivedi, for the state of West Bengal, advanced, "In so far as this examination is concerned, this was not an issue either in the representations made or before the ...

Supreme Court Upholds West Bengal Condition Of 3 Years Minimum Service In Remote Areas For In-Service Quota

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