The Madras High Court has upheld an eligibility criterion for admission to JIPMER in Puducherry which makes a residence certificate from the territorial government compulsory for accessing seats under the Puducherry-Scheduled Castes quota.
The clause was challenged by Santosh Tamilarasan and a few SC candidates who wanted the court to declare the stipulation of having residence certificates, issued by the government to those who have resided in the Union Territory continuously for five years preceding the date of admissions, null and void.
Of the 141 seats in the institution for the MBBS course, 40 have been earmarked for students hailing from Puducherry. The 40 seats include six specially allocated for SC students from Puducherry. Justice K K Sasidharan said the seats were only a form of concession and not a constitutional quota. The candidates were free to apply for other seats in the SC quota for which such a residence certificate was not a necessity.