TN govt to appeal against HC order on NEET quota for state board students

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government on Friday said it would appeal against the Madras High Court verdict quashing its order reserving 85 per cent of MBBS and BDS seats for state board students and 15 per cent for the students of the CBSE and other boards.

Health and Family Welfare Minister C Vijayabaskar said the government was committed to its "policy decision".

"A single judge has issued the order (quashing the GO). We will immediately appeal before a (division) bench of the high court," he said.

Allowing petitions by some CBSE students challenging the GO dated June 22, Justice K Ravichndrababu on Friday held that the impugned reservation was bad in law and violated Article 14 of the Constitution (Equality before law).

He also held that the reservation indirectly meddled with the object and process of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and compromised on the merits of selection.

The judge directed the authorities to prepare a fresh merit list and conduct the counselling for admissions accordingly.