NEET-PG : Plea In Supreme Court Against Conversion Of Chandigarh UT Quota As All India Quota

Alleging that the decision to convert the Union Territory quota seats of Chandigarh as All India Quota seats is in violation of the judgment in Tanvi Behl v. Shrey Goel, a contempt petition has been filed in the Supreme Court.In Tanvi Behl v. Shrey Goel, the Court held that residence-based reservation in PG Medical seats is impermissible as it is violative of Article 14 of the Constitution.A bench of Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh heard the matter on Tuesday and placed it before CJI BR Gavai for listing before the appropriate bench (comprising judges who passed the Tanvi Behl judgment)."We can't do anything. It's only proper that being a contempt, it goes to the same judge...who is sitting on June 7...the admissions are over now, they can be reversed if there's breach", said Justice Viswanathan.To recap, in January this year, a bench comprising Justices Hrishikesh Roy, Sudhanshu Dhulia and SVN Bhatti passed the judgment in Tanvi Behl case, holding that residence-based reservation in admission to PG medical courses within the State quota is constitutionally impermissible. Only reservation to a limited extent is permissible for institutional preference alone, the Court said. It was further noted that State quota seats shall be filled up on the basis of merit in NEET exam. The Court delivered the judgment in appeals against a judgment of the Punjab and Haryana High Court which struck down residence-based reservation in PG medical courses in Govt Medical College, Chandigarh.Earlier this month, the present petition was filed alleging contempt of the Tanvi Behl judgment.In the recent hearing, AoR Jagjit Singh Chhabra appeared for the petitioners and submitted that after the judgment in Tanvi Behl, initially a public notice was issued on 09.04.2025 stating that all balance seats for the Third State Counseling of the Union Territory Pool State Quota in Chandigarh will be converted and filled through the Institutional Preference Pool of State Quota seats for the Session 2024-2025 on the basis of rank obtained in NEET-PG 2024. However, subsequently, another notice was issued on 03.06.2025, stating that the seats would be filled on all India basis through the All India NEET-PG 2024 by inviting fresh applications. The counsel argued that not even one seat from state quota can be given to All India quota.Additional Solicitor General Archana Pathak Dave, on behalf of the Union, asserted that there was no contempt of the Tanvi Behl judgment. The ASG argued that though domicile State quota was quashed in Tanvi Behl, the judgment did not stipulate as to how the 25% seats were to be filled. She also submitted that the seats in question are already filled and students who have been allotted the same under All India quota are presently submitting their marksheets.Ultimately, the matter was placed before the Chief Justice of India.Appearance: AoR Jagjit Singh Chhabra and Advocates Saksham Maheshwari and Satjit Singh Chhabra; ASG Archana Pathak DaveCase Title: TANVI AND ORS. Versus A.K. ATRI AND ANR., Diary No. 33610-2025Click Here To Read/Download OrderRelated - NEET-PG : Punjab & Haryana High Court Approves Chandigarh UT's Decision To Reallocate UT Quota To All India Quota

NEET-PG : Plea In Supreme Court Against Conversion Of Chandigarh UT Quota As All India Quota

Debby Jain

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