The Supreme Court on Thursday passed an interim order that allows Overseas citizens of India(OCI) applicants to apply for NEET-UG’s counselling within the general category for 2021-22.
The Court issued the interim order in an application that was filed by OCI applicants challenging a notice that was issued from the Ministry of Home Affairs to be treated as Non-Resident Indians(NRIs) in the context of college admission. The Court ordered the National Testing Agency(NTA) to announce the outcomes of OCI candidates and allow candidates to attend counselling under the general category. It was clarified that the Court confirmed that its decision is limited to the period 2021-22 in the academic year.
Statements regarding the concerned matter:
The bench of Justices Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari given the orders for the academic year 2021-2022 petitioners can be recognized as eligible for all medical seats. The NTA to announce the result of the test that petitioners took NEET-UG 2021. Candidates who are eligible are permitted to take the examination under the general category. This decision is limited to the academic year 2021-2022.
Justice Abdul Nazeer also mentioned, “They are all Indian origin & they are not outsiders. They have sent dollars for our country & they have already undergone it. They don’t have money like NRIs. Don’t you think it looks arbitrary? Give them some time. Legal aspects apart. There is a challenge to the provision itself we’ll consider at a later stage. But this is so sudden…. I don’t know how many of them will pass. You have not made any condition precedent. You have allowed them to participate. You know legitimate expectations again. From all angles, what is the justification like this?”
To this Justice Krishna Murari said, “Our only objection is that you can take some time to make the decision. We might not have any objection to what is stated if time is taken to apply this. All of a sudden this change, we don’t know what their condition is.”
Conclusion:
The Supreme Court will hear the other issues in the petition on the 20th of October. Attorney General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Centre, claimed that the case was for dual citizenship as outlined in the Constitution of India, Section 9 of the Citizenship Act, and the Notification that was issued on March 4, 2021. The lawyer also said that several courts have heard arguments with regards to the constitutionality of Section 9 in the Citizenship Act and the Court has upheld it in several judgments. She also argued that the impugned notification did not remove any rights and that the arguments put forward by petitioners were framed in a way in which the rights of OCI were snubbed out.The status that OCI cardholders to be on the same level as NRI’s existed prior to the impugned notification the ASG stated that earlier OCI’s were controlled by the specific law of the State.
