Supreme Court in the case of Dr. Sandeep s/o Sadashivrao Kansurkar v. Union of India (WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO.444 OF 2015) asked the Central Government to take necessary steps to end reservation system in all institutions of higher education in national interest. Regretting that some “privilege remains unchanged” even after 68 years of independence, a bench of Justices Dipak Misra and P C Pant noted that despite several reminders to the central and state governments to make merit the primary criteria for admissions into super-specialty courses, the ground reality remains that reservation often holds sway over merit. “We hope and trust that the Government of India and the state governments shall seriously consider this aspect of the matter without delay and appropriate guidelines shall be evolved…” the bench stated.
The bench made these observations as it delivered its judgment on a batch of petitions, which had challenged eligibility criteria for admissions into certain super-specialty medical courses in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu.
