IMPORTANT POINT
The court established that reservations in central government institutions are governed by a pan-India policy, allowing Scheduled Castes from any state to be eligible for admission, irrespective of the domicile status under state-specific reservation orders.

ORDER :

(N. Seshasayee, J.) :

(Common Prayer : Writ Petitions filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India praying for a (i) Writ of Certiorarified Mandamus calling for the records pertaining to the prospectus for the MBBS course - academic year 2023-24 on the file of the 3rd respondent and quash the same as illegal, incompetent and ultravires and consequently direct the 3rd respondent to fill up P-SC seats in the MBBS course based on the Constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled Castes order, 1964 dated 05.03.1964 and as per the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court and consequentially direct the third respondent to allot one seat under P-SC category in MBBS course at JIPMER Puducherry campus under Puducherry UT Domicile category to the petitioner by replacing the above referred migrant SC candidates who do not satisfy the Constitution (Pondicherry) Scheduled Castes order, 1964 dated 05.03.1964 or from the unfilled four seats earmarked for Puducherry Scheduled Tribe in JIPMER, Puducherry, and (ii) may pass such other or further orders as this Court may deem fit and proper to the facts and circumstances of the case.)

1. These writ petitions are filed under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking a writ of Certiorarified Mandamus to quash the MBBS Prospectus of the 3rd respondent for the academic year 2023-2024 and for consequential directions to the 3rd respondent to fill up the Pondicherry Schedule Caste (P-SC) seats in the MBBS course on the basis of the Constitution Pondicherry Scheduled Castes Order, 1964, and allot one seat to the petitioners herein in the P-SC category in the MBBS course in place of the Schedule Caste candidates who have migrated from beyond the Union Territory of Puducherry.

2. The case of the petitioners, in a nutshell, is as follows:

a) The petitioners herein have completed their 12th grade in 2022-23. They took the NEET exams in 2023, and applied for medicine. Their details are tabulated as under :

b) Both the petitioners belongs to a caste which is notified as a Scheduled Caste under the Constitution (Pondicherry) Reservation Order, 1964. The petitioners were promptly categorized under the Pondicherry SC category (henceforth P- SC category).

c) The total reservation under the said category is 10 seats (7 seats for Puducherry and 3 seats for Karaikal). According to the petitioners, these seats ought to be filled up only from amongst those P-SC candidates who are notified as Scheduled Castes under the Constitution (Pondicherry) Reservation Order, 1964. In short, these seats must be allotted to those SC candidates who are natives of Pondicherry and not migrants.

d) It is the case of the petitioners that the 3rd respondent has released a merit list under the P-SC category but has included candidates who do not fall within the castes notified under the Constitution (Pondicherry) Reservation Order, 1964. It is pointed out that the 3rd respondent has failed to notice the distinction between a SC candidate domiciled in Pondicherry who holds a residence certificate from a SC candidate who falls within the scope of the Constitution (Pondicherry) Reservation Order, 1964. As the admissions have been made by the 3rd respondent in violation of the Constitution (Pondicherry) Reservation Order, 1964, the entire admission process is illegal and ought to be quashed.

3.The Union of India and JIPMER have resisted the aforesaid contentions pointing out that JIPMER is classified as an institution of national importance and it functions under the aegis of the JIPMER Act, 2008. The scheme of reservations contemplated for institutions run by the Central Government is completely different from the reservations contemplated under Article 341 which applies to institutions run by t