New Delhi: The Centre requested the Supreme Court on Monday to schedule a hearing in the matter related to the reservation of Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in connection with NEET-PG admissions on Tuesday, citing "some urgency".
Justices bench comprising of D.Y. Chandrachud and A.S. Bopanna told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who mentioned the matter before the court on behalf of the Centre, that the EWS quota matter is being heard by a three-judge bench of Supreme Court.
"The moment today's work gets over, I would make a request to Chief Justice of of India N.V. Ramana for the listing of the case," Justice Chandrachud said. If it is not possible to list the matter on Tuesday, then it could be listed on Wednesday, said Mehta. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing in court on behalf of doctors challenging the government notification for implementation of the quota, said he has no objection whether the matter is listed on Tuesday or Wednesday.
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Currently, the matter is listed for hearing on January 6. Resident doctors of various hospitals have carried out large-scale protests under the banner of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) in Delhi and other parts of the country, over a delay in the NEET-PG counselling. Central government's decision to revisit the criteria for determination of the EWS quota was causing the delay.
In its affidavit filed in the apex court, the Centre has said it has decided to accept the recommendations of a three-member panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) at Rs 8 lakh or less.
The government has also told the court that according to the panel, family income is a "feasible criterion" for defining EWS and in the current situation, a threshold of Rs 8 lakh of annual family income seems reasonable for determining EWS.
In its affidavit filed in a matter related to admissions for NEET-PG, the Centre has said the panel has recommended that "only those families whose annual income is up to Rs 8 lakh would be eligible to get the benefit of the EWS reservation".
