New Delhi, Aug 18 (IANS): Other Backward Classes (OBC) students will qualify for admissions if they have 10 percent less marks than the eligibility level fixed for the general category students, the Supreme Court has ruled.

The apex court Thursday clarified that 10 percent relaxation being given to OBC students did not mean it will be 10 percent less than the last student admitted under general category.

The verdict was delivered by a bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik while upholding the Delhi High Court judgement of Sep 7, 2010.

Justice Raveendran said that in all those central educational institutions where the admission process has been completed and the OBC seats have been filled up, the court's fresh ruling will not disturb the admission process.

However, in institutions where the last date for admission is over and the OBC seats are still vacant, the date of admission as a special measure has been extended to Aug 31, 2011, and will be filled by OBC candidates only, the court said.

The apex court verdict came on a petition by a former director of IIT - Chennai, P.V. Indiresan who challenged the earlier Delhi High Court verdict.