Daijiworld Media Network - Bangalore (SP)

Bangalore, Feb 6: A circular issued by the state government, which said that the children of the couple, both of whom are 'C' grade employees of the government, will still be eligible to get reservation meant for the '3A' category, even if their annual income of the family  exceeds two lac rupees.

In an important verdict, Justice Ajit Gunjal opined, that these children come under creamy layer and that exempting them from the income criteria meant for the creamy layer is not right. "If concessions are extended in this fashion on one or the other pretext, the very concept of reservation loses its meaning," he observed.

While fixing reservation, the government needs to take into account income level, educational level, cost of living etc., of individual villages. The circular which was issued without conducting these studies, hence becomes unconstitutional, the judge said.

The order was issued while considering a petition moved by a student named Dhanya Balakrishnan from Madikeri, who was deprived of MBBS seat because of the above circular. The student had said that the new circular issued with effect from March 1, 2005, had been robbing of the chances of eligible students. Even after securing rank No.3437 in the CET examination in 2005, she failed to get MBBS seat.

The court however, did not heed to her request to withdraw the MBBS ranking list and redraw the same after canceling the circular in question. While allowing her request to cancel the circular, it observed that it is not practicable to cancel the ranking list, as already some years have passed since the list was prepared.