Quota in PG courses not mandatory: SC

States are the best judges for caste reservation benefits for SC/ST and OBC applicants to post-graduation courses,the Supreme Court held on Wednesday....

States are the best judges for caste reservation benefits for SC/ST and OBC applicants to post-graduation courses,the Supreme Court held on Wednesday.

Though SC/ST and OBC students can claim preferential treatment,the states are under no obligation to grant the benefits,a three-judge bench of Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan,Justice P Sathasivam and Justice J M Panchal observed.

The Bench was hearing an appeal by medical student Gulshan Prakash and others challenging the denial of reservation benefits to SC/STs in post-graduate courses in Maharshi Dayanand University,Haryana for the 2007-2008 session.

Article 15(4) is an enabling provision and the state government is the best judge to grant reservation for SC/ST/Backward Class categories at post-graduate level in admission and the decision of the state of Haryana not to make any provision for reservation at the post-graduate level suffers no infirmity, the Bench said.