ORDER :

1. One of the petitioners in a batch of writ petitions which was decided on July 27, 2020 complains of the deliberate and wilful violation of the relevant order. Several senior Union and State officials have been arraigned as contemnors for their perceived failure to act in accordance with the order dated July 27, 2020 (hereinafter referred to as “the said order”).

2. The petitioner here is a political party, one which has returned to power in this State following the Assembly elections conducted a few months back. It may also be noticed that most major political parties in the State had filed the other petitions in the batch of petitions that came to be decided by the said order. Even the State Government supported the writ petitions by filing an affidavit.

3. In essence, the prayers in the petitions that were decided by the said order sought implementation of reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the All India Quota (AIQ) of the seats surrendered by the State for admission to the under-graduate, post-graduate and diploma medical and dental courses in the State. The prayers in most of the petitions required such reservation to be implemented in the State with effect from 2020-21.

4. The decision of this court is reflected in paragraphs 103 to 106 of the said order. The rival parties – the petitioner and the Union – have copiously referred to the said order to persuade the court at this stage that the ultimate order that was passed was in favour of the contention put forth by either set of adversaries. The petitioner insists that its prayer in the petition was granted and this court accepted, in the said order, that the reservation policy as in vogue in this State would apply to the AIQ seats for admission to the under-graduate, post-graduate and diploma medical and dental courses in the State. The Union asserts that the prayer in the petitions to the effect that the reservation as per the Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 1993 can be made applicable to AIQ seats for admission to the undergraduate, post-graduate and diploma medical and dental courses in the State was expressly declined and the methodology for adopting a policy for reservation to be applied to the AIQ seats at both the admission stages to the under-graduate and post-graduate levels was left to be decided by the committee required to be constituted by the said order.

5. The contents of paragraphs 103 to 106 of the said order assume greater significance in the light of the diametrically opposite interpretations given thereto by the principal dramatis personae herein:

“103. The aforesaid observations, therefore, indicate that a policy relating to extending the benefit of reservations vis-a-vis qualifying marks and admissions has to be reviewed jointly by the Central Government as well as by the Medical Council of India. At the same time, once the constitutional mandate enabling the State to frame a law has been crystallised by the framing of a particular law by the State Government, then its applicability vis-a-vis All India quota to the extent the percentage is permissible cannot be ignored. We may, however, caution that the balance which has to be struck is in order to avoid any undesirable disbalance of representation of candidates qualifying on merit in the NEET examinations. The minimum merit and the preparation of the list of candidates entitled to admission having been taken care of by the NEET examinations, it cannot be said that merit would be compromised if reservation is introduced in favour of Other Backward Categories in the All India quota, who have qualified in the NEET examinations, but, that is an issue for which a decision has to be taken upon a joint deliberation and consideration