Instances where Reservation not Applicable to PG courses

Benny vs. State of Kerala

Filed under: Sections 33and 39 of the Persons with Disabilities Act
Petitioner: Benny
Petitioner: State of Kerala
Citation: 2003 (1) KLT 850 (F.B)
Court: In the High Court of Kerala
Judges: Jawahar Lal Gupta, J.B.Koshy, M. Ramchandran

This is a case where three petitions challenging the non-reservation of seats for the handicapped persons by the State Government in Post Graduate Courses in Medicine.

Facts

Benny was a physically handicapped boy, afflicted with Polio. He had graduated in Medicine and was registered as a medical practitioner.

The state government published a prospectus for admission in postgraduate diploma/degree courses in Medical Science. Seats for admission were reserved under various categories such as SC/ST etc but no reservation was provided for physically handicapped persons.

Benny submitted his application form without claiming the benefit of any reservation. Later, however he filed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution complaining that the State Government had failed to carry out the statutory obligation under the provisions of Section 39 of the Persons with Disabilities Act, 1995.

Thus, he requested that the State Government be directed to modify the prospectus making a provision for 3% reservation for physically handicapped person in the course.

This matter was posted for hearing before a Single Judge who relied on the decision in an earlier case (Mary Joseph’s case) and dismissed the petition. Aggrieved by this decision, Benny appealed to the High court.

Observations of the Court

The Court observed that no records had been furnished by the parties as to whether the Government had identified posts and services against which the physically handicapped persons could be appointed; and if it had not done so then the Court gave directions for immediate consideration of the matter

In addition, the Court also observed that the issue in question was that whether Section 39 was inflexible in its value that a minimum of three per cent of seats in educations institutions should be reserved for persons with physical disabilities.

It was decided that despite the language of the provision of Section 39 of the Act, the Government retains discretion in the matter of reserving seats in educational institutions just as in the identification of services and posts.

It was further pointed out that Benny was not in a position to seek admission in certain specialties like Surgery since his legs were badly afflicted with polio. This would be true for the other disabilities as well. It was also understood that in the light of the fact that each specialty constituted a separate category and that since the number of seats in each category was low; therefore, reservation of even one seat would exceed the prescribed percentage.

Thus, the Court concluded that a direction as appealed for by Benny would not be in conformity with the law. Resultantly, the appeal as well as the Writ Petition was dismissed.

Held: The appeal as well was the Writ Petition was dismissed.

Sections Referred:

  • Sections 33 and 39 Persons with Disabilities Act

Cases Referred:

  • State of Kerala vs. Mary Joseph (2001) 3 KLT 26
  • All Kerala Parents Association vs. State of Kerala (2002) 3 KLT 423 (SC)
  • PG Institute of Medical Education & Research vs. Faculty Association, AIR 1998 SC 1767
  • Dr. Preeti vs. State of MP, AIR 1999 SC 2895