AMN
The Supreme Court Tuesday rejected the plea of state for the expansion of the non-resident Indian (NRI) quota in Punjab’s medical colleges.
The Apex Court, calling it a fraud, observed that such steps give way to backdoor entries and force meritorious students out of the admission process. The Top Court dismissed a set of petitions challenging Punjab and Haryana High Court’s order, which quashed the Punjab Government’s notification to broaden the ambit of NRI Quota in medical admission.
The bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra quashed the 20th August notification, widening the definition of non-resident Indian for MBBS admissions.
“Let us put a lid on this. This NRI business is nothing but a fraud. This comes to an end now. What is a word? You just have to say I am looking after X. See the students who got three times high (marks) have lost out. We cannot lend our authority to something which is blatantly illegal,” a Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said, dismissing petitions filed by the Punjab Government and others.
Through a notification issued on August 20, the Punjab Government had widened the definition of an NRI candidate to include distant relatives such as uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins of NRIs for admissions under the 15% NRI quota for admissions in MBBS/BDS courses.
Earlier, the High Court on the 11th of this month struck down the notification, terming it to be ‘unjustified’ as it defeated the original purpose of the NRI Quota—to give genuine NRIs a chance to come to India to study.