Quota: SC allows pvt colleges to withdraw petitions

New Delhi, July 7: The Supreme Court today permitted private colleges from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh challenging the validity of the Act introducing 52 percent reservation in admission to private professional colleges, to withdraw their petitions.

A bench comprising Justices K G Balakrishnan and D K Jain, however, granted liberty to the petitioners to approach the respective high courts for the relief.

Management Associations of private colleges from Kerala had challenged the constitutional validity of the impugned Act on the grounds that it introduces 52 per cent reservation in private professional colleges which is violative of law laid down by the apex court which has ruled that total reservation can not go beyond 50 per cent.

The impugned Kerala State Self-Financing Private Professional Colleges Act seeks to introduce reservation for SC/STs and OBCs from the current academic year.

Dar-Us-Salam-Educational Trust from Andhra Pradesh also withdrew its petition to approach the state high court against the impugned state government orders which seeks to regulate admissions in the private professional and minority institutions in the state.

All the petitions were dismissed as withdrawn.

UNI