SC ALLOWS MANIPUR UNIVERSITY TO CHANGE ITS RESERVATION IN LINE WITH THE STATE POLICY

The Apex Court, in a recent case, upheld a Manipur HC order permitting Manipur University to change its reservation quota in line with State policy. The Court thus allowed the quota for 

• Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates to change from 15% to 2%, 

• Scheduled Tribe (ST) candidates from 7.5% to 31%, and,

• Other Backward Castes (OBC) candidates from 27% to 17%.

The Top Court observed that the North-Eastern States have a predominantly tribal population. 

The University was established in 1980 as a State University and followed the State reservation policy of reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs as given above. In 2005, the University was converted into a Central University. It continued following the same State reservation policy till the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act of 2006 was introduced. In 2009-10, the University changed its policy to provide 15% for SC, 7.5% for ST, and 27% for OBC reservations in admission. 

Candidates belonging to the SC category challenged this move of the Manipur University before the Manipur HC, which refused to interfere in the matter. The candidates further approached a single judge of the Manipur High Court to reconsider the reservations. The HC upheld the change in reservation, prompting the appellants to approach the Top Court.

A Bench of Justices Hima Kohli and L Nageshwar Rao made the above observations. 

Author: Papiha Ghoshal