JUDGMENT :

Dhananjaya Y. Chandrachud, J.

This judgment has been divided into the following sections to facilitate analysis:

A. Factual Background

1. These writ petitions challenge the reservation for Other Backward Classes,¹[“OBC”] and the Economically Weaker Section,²[“EWS”] in the All-India Quota,³[“AIQ”] seats in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test examination,⁴[“NEET-PG”] for undergraduate,⁵[“UG”] and postgraduate,⁶[“PG”] medical courses. The Directorate General of Health Services in the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare,⁷[“MH&FW”] issued a notice on 29 July 2021 providing 27 percent reservation for OBC (non-creamy layer) and 10 percent reservation for EWS in the 15 percent UG and 50 percent PG seats in AIQ from the academic year 2021-2022. By an order dated 7 January 2022, a two-judge Bench of this Court upheld the constitutional validity of the OBC reservation in AIQ seats and posted the challenge to the validity of the EWS criteria for final hearing in the third week of March 2022. This judgement provides reasons for upholding the permissibility of reservations in the AIQ seats and constitutionality of OBC reservation in AIQ seats.

2. Some of the salient facts that have led to the implementation of OBC reservation in AIQ seats are being adverted for setting out the broad contours of the controversy. While we have discussed in detail the history of the AIQ and the evolution of an All-India common entrance examination in Section D.2, it is sufficient to highlight that the scheme of AIQ seats was devised by this Court in Dr. Pradeep Jain v. Union of India, (1984) 3 SCC 654 to provide domicile free seats in State run medical and dental institutions. The AIQ scheme was further developed by this Court in Dinesh Kumar (I) v. Motilal Nehru Medical College, (1985) 3 SCC 22 and Dinesh Kumar (II) v. Motilal Nehru Medical College, (1986) 3 SCC 727. Presently, under the AIQ scheme, 15 percent UG seats and 50 percent PG seats in State–run institutions are surrendered by the states to the AIQ. The remaining seats in the State institutions are reserved for candidates domiciled in the respective States.

3. The Constitution (Ninety-Third Amendment) Act 2005 amended Article 15 of the Constitution by inserting clause (5) to Article 15 to empower the State to make special provisions (including reservation) for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes (or the OBCs) relating to their admission in educational institutions. Article 15 (5) reads thus:

“(5) Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such s