In an important ruling, the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that domicile-based reservations in postgraduate medical courses (PG) are impermissible, and declared them unconstitutional for being violative of Article 14 of the Constitution – guaranteeing equality before law.

While holding that providing for domicile residence-based reservations in admission in PG medical courses within the State quota is constitutionally impermissible, a three-judge bench comprising justice Hrishikesh Roy, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and Justice SVN Bhatti said that the state quota seats are to be filled up on the basis of merit in the NEET exam.

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Stating that the “residence-based reservation in PG medical courses is clearly violative of Article 14 of the Constitution,” the court in its judgment today said, “We are all domiciles in the territory of India. There is nothing like a provincial or state domicile. There is only one domicile. We are all residents of India. We have the right to choose residence anywhere in India and to carry out trade and profession anywhere in the country. The Constitution also gives us the right to choose admission in educational institutions across India.”

Striking down domicile reservations for future admissions, the top court, however, clarified that the judgment will not affect the domicile reservation that has already been granted to the students.

The verdict of the top court came on appeals by some students against a Punjab and Haryana High Court ruling that had struck down domicile reservations in PG medical admissions as unconstitutional.