Apex court declines relief for Jat students

The Supreme Court said on Tuesday that Jat students would not get the benefit of reservation under the OBC category even if their admission process began before it quashed the government notification extending reservation to the community in nine states.

While declining relief to eight students seeking admission to post-graduate medical and dental courses, a bench of Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Rohinton Fali Nariman, however, did not upset admissions that have already "crystallised" under the OBC reservation for Jats.

The court order came as it declined two applications by the students seeking to be covered under Jat reservation as their admission process had commenced well before the apex court on March 17 quashed the March 4, 2014, notification by the then UPA government extending Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation to Jats in nine states.

Appearing for the aggrieved students who gave up their chance for admission under all-India quota to get admission in Delhi under the OBC quota, senior counsel Jayant Bhushan told the court that they are now being turned back after the March 17 verdict though their admission process started in January.

Counsel for petitioner Ram Singh, who had challenged extension of OBC reservation to Jats, however, said that the court by its April 9, 2014, order had said that every action under the Jat reservation would be subject to the outcome of the case.

He argued that since Jat reservation has been set aside, no one can claim any benefit of the reservation policy even prior to March 17 when reservation was quashed.

The apex court, while quashing the Jat reservation, said that it was done ignoring the recommendation of the National Commission for Backward Classes to the contrary.