KSHETRIMAYUM MAHESHKUMAR SINGH, S/O KSH GOURIDAS SINGH Vs. MANIPUR UNIVERSITY, CANCHIPUR

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This petition, on being remanded by the Hon'ble Division Bench of the Meghalaya High Court as the appellate Court, is being reheard.

(2.) The issue which initially arose for consideration before the Single Bench of this Court was to determine the extent of reservation for the Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and OBC students for admission in terms of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 (hereinafter referred to as the Act/CEI Act, 2006 or the Principal Act) in the Manipur University, admittedly a Central Educational Institution (hereafter also referred to as CEI) within the meaning of the Act.

(3.) Section 4(a) of the CEI Act as it originally stood provided that provisions of Section 3 of the Act shall not apply to a Central Educational Institution established in the tribal areas referred to in the Sixth Schedule to the Constitution. There are other exceptions provided under sub-clauses (b), (c) and (d) of Section 4 which are not relevant for our purpose, hence, not referred to. Manipur University is not a Central Educational Institution located in a tribal area under the Sixth Schedule of the Constitution. Hence, the provisions of Section 4(a) were not applicable. Accordingly, as per the CEI Act, 2006 as it originally stood, reservation relating to admission to the Manipur University was governed by the provisions of Section 3 of the Principal Act as mentioned above. The reservation under the Act was to commence from the earlier year 2007 and subsequently made to commence from 2008 as per Section 6 of the Act. According to the Manipur University, the reservation norm as per the Act started commencing from the academic session 2009-2010.