The Supreme Court on Tuesday questioned the challenge to the eligibility criteria prescribed for determining beneficiaries under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) reservation in the All India Quota (AIQ) for NEET admissions, observing that the annual family income ceiling of Rs 8 lakh appeared, at first glance, to be a reasonable criterion.
A Bench of Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe also directed the petitioners to compile details of all connected matters challenging the EWS eligibility framework so that the issues arising in those cases could be considered together.
The Bench was hearing a batch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the EWS eligibility framework, including the Rs 8 lakh annual family income ceiling and the criteria framed pursuant to the recommendations of the Pandey Committee for identifying EWS candidates under the NEET AIQ.
At the outset, Advocate Tanvi Dubey, appearing for the petitioners, sought an adjournment. The Bench, however, questioned the continuing relevance of the petitions, noting that they pertained to the 2021 admission cycle. The Court asked what issues still survived in matters relating to admissions that had already concluded.
Dubey submitted that although the admissions for the 2021 academic session had been completed, the challenge to the Pandey Committee’s recommendations and the Office Memorandum prescribing the EWS eligibility criteria, including the Rs 8 lakh annual family income ceiling, continued to survive because those criteria remained in force.
The Bench observed that an annual family income ceiling of Rs 8 lakh appeared to be a prima facie reasonable criterion and asked the petitioners to explain the legal basis for challenging the eligibility criteria.
Clarifying the scope of the petitions, Dubey submitted that the petitioners were not challenging the constitutional validity of the 10 per cent EWS reservation, which had already been upheld by a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court. She submitted that the challenge was confined to the eligibility criteria adopted by the Union Government for identifying beneficiaries under the EWS category.
She further submitted that the Pandey Committee itself had recommended modifications to the eligibility framework, including the removal of the five-acre agricultural land criterion, but those recommendations had not been implemented even after 2021. According to the petitioners, the challenge is confined to the methodology adopted for identifying EWS beneficiaries rather than the reservation itself.
When the Court suggested that the challenge appeared to concern the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations, Dubey clarified that the petitions were directed only against the identification criteria and not the extent of reservation. The Bench thereafter observed that individual States could prescribe their own eligibility criteria depending on local conditions and noted that the dispute essentially related to the methodology for identifying EWS beneficiaries.
During the hearing, Advocate Pawan Reley raised an additional issue concerning the implementation of the EWS income criterion. Referring to his own case, he submitted that despite securing the 550th rank in the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) examination, he was denied the benefit of EWS reservation because his annual income exceeded the prescribed ceiling by Rs 20,000. He contended that the excess resulted from the inclusion of the standard deduction while computing his salary, allegedly contrary to the applicable Office Memorandum governing EWS income calculations.
Taking note of the multiple petitions pending before it on similar issues, the Bench directed the petitioners to prepare a comprehensive chart identifying all connected matters and the legal issues arising in each of them. It also directed Advocate Tanvi Dubey to place on record a tabulated statement setting out the issues involved in every connected matter and ascertain whether any other petitions challenging the Pandey Committee criteria for identifying EWS beneficiaries are pending before the Supreme Court.
The matter has been listed for further hearing on August 11.
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