Punjab: SC rejects plea to increase NRI quota, court calls it fraud with education system

The Supreme Court has dismissed the petition of the Punjab government challenging the High Court's decision to increase the NRI quota in medical colleges. The apex court stressed that distant relatives of NRIs cannot be given admission benefits. This is a fraud and fraud must be stopped. This decision comes at a time when the Karnataka government is insisting on introducing a 15 percent NRI quota in government medical colleges from the 2025-26 academic year.

The Supreme Court has upheld the High Court's order to cancel the notification. The Punjab government had also included relatives or dependents in admissions through the NRI quota. CJI DY Chandrachud commented on the NRI quota in admission to medical colleges in Punjab. He said that this NRI quota business should be stopped. This is a fraud in the education system. We have to end the fraud. The High Court's order is correct.

He said that the result of making it comprehensive is that candidates who have more than three times the marks are not getting admission. The central government should implement this. We will lay down the principles of law for this.

What did the Punjab-Haryana High Court say?

Earlier this month, the Punjab-Haryana High Court had struck down a Punjab government notification that amended the conditions for admission under the NRI quota in medical colleges across the state. A bench of Chief Justice Sheel Nagu and Justice Anil Khetrapal of the High Court had ruled that the state's August 20 notification, which broadened the definition of NRI candidates to include distant relatives, was arguably unfair.

The court pointed out that the NRI quota was originally meant to benefit genuine NRIs and their children, helping them pursue education in India. However, the government's move to include relatives such as uncles, aunts, grandparents, and cousins ​​in the NRI category undermined the basic objective of the policy.