The Allahabad High Court summoned Uttar Pradesh's social welfare principal secretary over admissions beyond quota limits in four medical colleges. The bench said departmental differences cannot justify ignoring reservation law and court undertakings.
Lucknow,Oct 12, 2026 21:42 IST
The Allahabad High Court on Monday expressed strong displeasure over the Uttar Pradesh government's stand on admissions to Scheduled Caste candidates beyond the prescribed reservation limit in four medical colleges. The Lucknow bench summoned the principal secretary of the social welfare department and asked the official to appear with the relevant records on Tuesday.
The order came while the court was hearing a special appeal filed by the state government. The bench said the state had given an undertaking last year to implement the Uttar Pradesh Admission to Educational Institutions (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 2006 in the four medical colleges in Ambedkar Nagar, Kannauj, Saharanpur and Jalaun from the 2026-27 academic session, but it appeared that admissions were again being granted beyond the prescribed reservation limits.
A bench of Justices Rajan Roy and Manjive Shukla noted that under the 2006 Act, reservation is fixed at 21 per cent for Scheduled Castes, 2 per cent for Scheduled Tribes and 27 per cent for Other Backward Classes, taking the total to 50 per cent. During the hearing, the state's counsel said the social welfare department had not agreed with the undertaking given earlier.
Questioning the government's stand, the bench asked why the court had not been told about the alleged differences between departments and why the state had taken the benefit of the court's earlier order during the previous academic session. The court said the state government is a single entity and cannot justify non-compliance with judicial orders and its own undertaking by citing differences between departments. It also directed the state to produce records of the earlier proceedings.
The case will now be heard on October 13, when the court will continue examining the state's stand on admissions and compliance with the reservation law in the four medical colleges.
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