Judgment

BHAGWATI, J. :- This writ petition is an offshoot of the decision rendered by us in Dr. Pradip Jain v. Union of India, (AIR 1984 SC 1420). The main judgment in that case was delivered by us on 22nd June, 1984 and we held in that judgment that "wholesale reservation made by some of the State Governments on the basis of domicile or residence requirement within the State or on the basis of institutional preference for students who have passed the qualifying examination held by the University or the State, excluding all students not satisfying this requirement, regardless of merit" was unconstitutional and void as offending the equality clause of the Constitution. But after condemning such wholesale reservation, we proceeded to observe that the very mandate of the equality clause viewed in the perspective of social justice, would justify some extent of reservation based on residence requirement within the State or on institutional preference for students passing the qualifying examination held by the University or the State and addressing ourselves to the question as to what extent such reservation might be regarded as constitutionally permissible, we said (Para 21) :

"It is not