Allahabad HC questions UP government over SC quota in four medical colleges

The Allahabad High Court expressed strong displeasure on Monday over the Uttar Pradesh government's stand on admissions to Scheduled Caste (SC) candidates beyond the prescribed reservation limit in four medical colleges and summoned the social welfare department's principal secretary, along with relevant records.

The Lucknow bench of the court passed the order while hearing a special appeal filed by the state government. It directed the senior official to appear before it on Tuesday. The bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla observed that the government had given an undertaking last year to implement the provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Admission to Educational Institutions (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 2006, in the four medical colleges in Ambedkar Nagar, Kannauj, Saharanpur and Jalaun from the 2026-27 academic session.

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However, it appeared that admissions were again being granted by exceeding the prescribed reservation limits, the bench noted. Under the 2006 Act, reservation is fixed at 21 per cent for SCs, 2 per cent for Scheduled Tribes (SCs) and 27 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBC), taking the total to 50 per cent.

During the hearing, the state's counsel submitted that the social welfare department had not agreed with the undertaking given earlier. Questioning the government's stand, the bench asked why the court was not informed about the alleged differences between departments and why the state had availed itself of the benefit of the court's order during the previous academic session. The court observed that the state government is a single entity and it cannot justify non-compliance with judicial orders and its own undertaking by citing differences between departments. It also directed the state to produce records of the earlier proceedings. The matter will be heard next on October 13.