Tamil Nadu boy in Pondy school becomes ineligible for 7.5 pc quota

Chennai

The first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy, before whom the plea moved by R Manigandan came, dismissed it as devoid of merits while pointing out that that 7.5 per cent reservation was a native quota for the students who studied in a government school in Tamil Nadu and not across the border.

Appearing for the student, advocate Kavita Deenadayalan contended that he had no choice but to study at a government school in Puducherry as his residence in Villupuram was close to Puducherry border. Though he scored more than 500 marks in NEET and was clearly eligible for a seat, the Puducherry government denied him a seat stating that he was a resident of Tamil Nadu. The Tamil Nadu government too refused him a seat as only the students who had studied at government schools in Tamil Nadu were eligible for the quota.

Due to this, the student who deserved a medical seat based on his NEET score is at a crossroad for no fault of his, she said, and sought for the court’s interference directing either of the states to provide him a seat.

But the counsel appearing for the Tamil Nadu government submitted that the issue entailed an amendment to the Act and it would result in several cases of students living in border areas coming up with similar pleas.