KSHETRIMAYUM MAHESHKUMAR SINGH Vs. MANIPUR UNIVERSITY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Leave granted. The appellants are aggrieved by the judgment dtd. 21/8/2017 passed by the High Court of Manipur at Imphal in Writ Petition (C) No. 753 of 2014 whereunder, amongst others, it has been held that after the amendment of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006,[For short "the Reservation Act"] in the year 2012, on introduction of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Amendment Act, 2012,[For short 'the Amendment Act"] respondent No. 1 - Manipur University.['University'] is required to follow the reservation norms of 2% for the candidates belonging to Scheduled Caste [SC], 31% for the Scheduled Tribes [ST] and 17% for the Other Backward Classes [OBC] for purposes of admission in the University.

(2.) To contextualize the issue raised in the present appeal, it is necessary to briefly refer to the relevant facts of the case. Respondent no. 1- University was initially established as a 'State University' under the Manipur University Act, 1980 that came into force on 5/6/1980. In the year 2005, the Manipur University Act was legislated, whereafter respondent No. 1 - University was converted from a 'State University' to a 'Central University' w.e.f. 13/10/2005. On 4/1/2007, the Reservation Act was notified. Sec. 3 of the said Act prescribed reservation of seats in the Central Educational Institutions and laid down as follows:

(3.) The expression "out of the annual permitted strength" referred to in Sec. 3 above, has been defined in Sec. 2(b) in the following words: