It's high time there is rethink on sports quota: High Court

Hyderabad, Aug 18: The Hyderabad High Court has observed that it is high time there is a rethink on sports quota as they have no constitutional basis and said sports and professional education take a beating as a result of this reservation.

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The bench of Justices V Ramasubramanian and Anis, in its order on August 8, also noted that in an earlier case, the high court had clearly spelt out that reservations for persons excelling in sports, NCC, are not based upon any constitutional guarantee and such reservations, in reality, appear to be inventions made for the purpose of diluting the constitutionally guarantees granted to BCs, SCs and STs.

The bench said this while dismissing a writ petition filed by a student, who was refused allotment of a medical seat under sports category by Andhra Pradesh government and NTR University of Health Sciences.

The petitioner, who appeared for Andhra Pradesh EAMCET-2016, had sought to declare the action of the respondents in not considering the persons who excel in games such as tennikoit, power lifting, netball, throwball, sepak takraw and boxing etc, as illegal and arbitrary and for consequential directions.

"It is sad to note that except video games, all other games that one could conceive of, have been brought within the sports quota, to enable persons, who cannot excel in academic studies, to gain admission to under-graduate medical courses through the back door," the bench said.

"The result is that the field of sports as well as field of professional education take a beating. Ultimately, persons who gain admission to medical courses, lose their flavour for sports if they really had some," it observed.

The persons who have interest in academics are kept out by less meritorious, due to such quotas not borne out of the constitutional scheme, it said.

Therefore, it is high time that there is rethinking on such quotas, which have no constitutional basis, the bench said, adding the reservation for such quotas neither helps the students to become great sports persons in life nor to become great professionals in other fields.

PTI