The Centre on Monday told the Madras High Court that a decision on implementing reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in medical and dental seats contributed to the all-India quota (AIQ) by the State government-run medical and dental colleges every year was at an advanced stage and it would be spelt out within a week.
Appearing before Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta urged the court to grant him a week’s time so that he would be in a better position to report progress on the issue. The judges accepted his plea and directed the High Court Registry to list the matter again on August 3.
The submission was made during the hearing of a contempt of court petition filed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), through senior counsel P. Wilson, against top Central officials for the delay in implementing the reservation for OBCs despite a specific order passed by the court on July 27, 2020, to implement it from academic year 2021-22.
Passing interim orders on the contempt petition last week, the first Division Bench, led by the Chief Justice, made it clear that the Centre could not delay the implementation indefinitely. The Bench granted a week’s time for the Centre to spell out the mode in which it would implement the reservation. On Monday, the Solicitor General reported that the matter was at an “advanced stage” and obtained one more week’s time for the Centre to spell out the modalities.
