There is no law in the country providing for reservations under sports quota in professional colleges. Making this observation, the Hyderabad High Court on Monday wondered if the judiciary could intervene in sports quota in professional colleges as it was not backed by the Constitution.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Thottathil B. Radhakrishnan and Justice V. Ramasubramanian made the observation while hearing a writ petition challenging the recent GO MS no. 7 issued by the Telangana government. The Chief Justice asked petitioners’ counsel B. Rachna Reddy where she would place the sports quota reservation in Part-III of the Constitution. He explained that reservations for women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes were backed by the Constitution but not those under sports quota.
Ms. Rachna Reddy argued that the government’s selective inclusion and exclusion of some sports for consideration under sports quota through GO MS 7 had affected the interests of some sportspersons. She presented to the judges that Telangana Anti-Corruption Bureau officials had registered cases against some Sports department officials based on the inputs given by some petitioners.
The judges agreed with her argument that there should be transparency in ensuring that the nine MBBS seats under sports quota went to right and eligible sports-persons. But the overall sports quota reservations were part of the government’s demonstration of executive power with the aim of progression of youth. In case of any error by the government on this matter, officials themselves can make rectifications.
But the moot point was whether the judiciary could intervene in these issues, the judges said. The bench asked the lawyer to present her arguments where the sports quota reservations could find a place in the Constitution. The hearing was posted after two days.