IITs Won't Implement the Minority Sub-Quota

In the wake of the Andhra Pradesh High Court order striking down the 4.5 percent sub-quota for minorities within OBC reservation, the IITs decided to abide by the ruling — ignoring the sub-quota provision in the ongoing admission process until further legal developments.

IIT-JEE 2012 organising chairman G B Reddy said candidates who had been shortlisted under the sub-quota for counselling should register their course choices accordingly: they would now be allocated seats as per their ranks, not under the sub-quota. An IIT statement advised that the availability of the 4.5 percent reservation for OBC (non-creamy-layer, minority) would depend on legal developments until June 13.

The practical effect: seats meant for the OBC (NCL)-minority category would be converted to the general OBC (NCL) category. As many as 325 aspirants from economically and socially backward sections of minority communities had been shortlisted for admission to the 15 IITs under the sub-quota.

Counselling for admission to the 15 IITs, IT-BHU, and ISM Dhanbad was underway, running till June 10, with the first seat allotment due on June 14. The IITs were the first institutions to implement the fallout of the court ruling.

Law Minister Salman Khurshid said the government would move the Supreme Court against the High Court's order.

This article summarizes contemporaneous reporting, including the Indian Express' May 2012 coverage.