Centre pleads for prospective effect of SC creamy layer ruling Seeks 2 Yrs’ Time To Implement New Policy

Centre pleads for prospective effect of SC creamy layer ruling Seeks 2 Yrs’ Time To Implement New Policy

Amitanand.Choudhary@timesofindia.com 25.09.2026

New Delhi: Facing the task of implementing Supreme Court’s ruling on calculating creamy layer criteria for OBC reservation from the retrospective date of 2012, Centre pleaded with the court to make the enforcement of the verdict prospective and grant it two years’ time to implement it. The court had in March held that the income of parents could not be the sole criterion to determine the creamy layer of a candidate for exclusion from OBC reservation, and status and category of a parent’s job had to be considered with an ‘income/wealth test’ as an additional criterion. 

It made the verdict implementable from 2012, when the case was first filed. In a written note filed by additional solicitor general Aishwarya Bhati, govt submitted that the retrospective application of a changed eligibility criterion may unsettle appointments and admissions made under the rules and certificates prevailing at the time and create uncertainty regarding OBC-NCL status, seniority, service conditions and career progression. “The retrospective implementation of the present judgement would create changes in candidates’service and cadre allocation... as it would affect the services of persons appointed on the basis of CSE-2012 onward and cause a cascading effect among civil servants... The aforementioned cascading effect will impact not only OBC candidates but also reverberate across all categories including (unreserved category) of the civil services,” the note said. 

Govt said a reasonable time of two years should be given to it to undertake the necessary exercise of establishing equivalence of posts, after consulting all the stakeholders and formulating a uniform policy/mechanism for determination of OBC creamy layer status. “Union of India is only praying for a limited deferral of the operationalisation of law laid down by this hon’ble court for a period of two years so that the competing rights can be adjusted consistent with administrative contingencies & an effective equivalence exercise is carried out,” it said.

Govt seeks 250 crore from VTU

 Govt seeks 250 crore from VTU

25.09.2026

Bengaluru: Karnataka govt reportedly sought Rs 250 crore from Visvesvaraya Technological University, after the institution got back Rs 700 crore from income tax department.

VTU recently recovered more than Rs 700 crore of its corpus fund that had been seized over “tax dues”. The university’s accounts were frozen in 2012-13 after I-T department raised a demand of Rs 250 crore, claiming VTU hadn’t secured exemption under Section 12(A) of Income Tax Act, which allows certain institutions and non-governmental organisations to claim full exemption from income tax.

When the accounts were seized, VTU had about Rs 450 crore accumulated as corpus, built up through examination fees, those collected from affiliated colleges and annual reimbursements from Karnataka Examinations Authority. Along with another Rs 250 crore belonging to the university, it had more than Rs 700 crore.

The govt is learnt to have sought Rs 250 crore from this fund. “The issue was discussed at the executive council meeting and govt letter was read out. The council decided not to part with the money. It belongs to students, who took admission in affiliated colleges. It should be used for their benefit; govt has no right to it,” said a source.

However, vice-chancellor S Vidyashankar said he hasn’t received any such letter. “If we receive any letter from govt, we will discuss at the executive council and take a decision,” said the VC.

Last year, govt sought funds from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences — Rs 600 crore from its Rs 1,400-crore corpus. tnn

NEET-PG 2026 result out: 2.6L candidates get ranks

 NEET-PG 2026 result out: 2.6L candidates get ranks

Anuja.Jaiswal@timesofindia.com 25.09.2026

New Delhi: National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) on Thursday declared NEET-PG 2026 result, with 2,65,960 candidates having appeared in the exam held in two phases this year.

The result includes candidates’ raw scores and overall NEET-PG ranks. The qualifying percentile criteria remain unchanged from last year.

For General and EWS categories, qualifying level was 50th percentile, with cut-off score at 262 marks out of 720 this year. 

It was 45th percentile and 244 marks for General Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD), and 40th percentile and 226 marks for SC, ST and OBC candidates, including PwBD candidates from these categories.

Scorecards can be downloaded from NBEMS website on or after Oct 1 and will be available for six months. The answer key will also be published on or after Oct 1.

HC: If there can be housewives, there can be house husbands

HC: If there can be housewives, there can be house husbands

 K.Kaushik@timesofindia.com  25.09.2026

Madurai: Madras high court endorsed Thursday the idea of “house husbands” as a way to ease pressures on career-oriented women, saying “homemaker” is gender-neutral and such a shift could help preserve marriages. “If there can be housewives, there can be house husbands also. Let this become a new normal, as it would help preserve the institution of marriage and family,” a bench of Justice GR Swaminathan and Justice MD Sumathi said Thursday while dissolving a doctor-couple’s marriage by mutual consent.

 “Unlike the modern western societies, in Bharathiya culture, it is the family and not the individual which is the foundational unit,” the bench said. The judges said traditionally, husbands were responsible for financial resources while wives handled domestic responsibilities, and both roles deserved equal respect. 

But women had increasingly become career-oriented over the past half-century, they said. “We note that this is taking a toll in many relationships. Marriage is not proving to be a win win proposition for career women,” the bench said. It added that some women viewed marriage as an impediment to their careers and chose to remain unmarried, suggesting that husbands opting to become homemakers could “probably” help remedy the situation. “House wives are not ‘little women’,” it said, referring to Louisa May Alcott’s novel and her line, “I would rather be a free spinster and paddle my own canoe.”

NEWS TODAY 24.09.2026

Religious conversion doesn’t end a person’s ST status: HC ‘Tribal Identity & Community Links Also Imp’

Religious conversion doesn’t end a person’s ST status: HC ‘Tribal Identity & Community Links Also Imp’ 

Rajesh Kumar Pandeytnn 24.09.2026

Prayagraj: Allahabad High Court has held that conversion to another religion does not, by itself, result in the loss of Scheduled Tribe (ST) status. The court observed that whether a person continues to be a member of a Scheduled Tribe is a question of fact that must be determined by examining the essential attributes of tribal identity, including customary practices, social organisation, community life, and acceptance by the tribal community. 

Justice Arun Kumar made the observations while relying extensively on Supreme Court’s 2026 judgment in Chintad Anand vs State of Andhra Pradesh and Others, which held that the determination of ST status depends on whether the claimant continues to retain tribal identity. The case arose from petitions filed by Ninhki alias Naimunisha, who claimed to belong to the Bhuiya Scheduled Tribe community. She challenged three orders passed by deputy collector, Sonbhadra, declaring land transfers in her favour void. The petitioner contended that she possessed a valid ST certificate and had purchased the land from members of the Gond Scheduled Tribe. 

The HC clarified that there can be no blanket legal proposition that a person ceases to be a member of a Scheduled Tribe merely because of a change in religion. The court observed that even after conversion, a person may continue to belong to a Scheduled Tribe if tribal traits remain intact.

Court: Medical boards can’t reassess certified disability

Court: Medical boards can’t reassess certified disability 

Ritika Singh Sisodiyatnn 24.09.2026

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court’s Lucknow bench has held that the percentage of disability recorded in a valid disability certificate issued by a competent authority cannot be reassessed or altered by a medical assessment board constituted by National Medical Commission (NMC). 

The court clarified that the role of medical assessment board is limited to determining whether a candidate is capable of completing the MBBS course with reasonable accommodation and assistive devices and does not extend to re-determining the percentage of disability certified by the competent authority. 

A bench of Justice Shekhar B Saraf and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary, while deciding three petitions filed by Shubham Mishra, Saurabh Rana and Gulfam Ahmed together, quashed the findings of the Medical Assessment Board and the Appellate Medical PwBD Assessment Board, which had declared the candidates ineligible for reservation under the Persons with Benchmark Disabilities (PwBD) category. 

The court directed authorities to include the three candidates as eligible PwBD candidates in the remaining NEET-UG 2026 counselling and consider them for seat allocation in accordance with their PwBD All India Rank and the applicable counselling rules. 

Mishra was issued a certificate showing 45% permanent disability by the CMO, Sultanpur. He was issued the disability certificate and UDID card on account of a chronic neurological condition (Bell’s palsy). He secured PwBD All India Rank 948 in NEET-UG 2026. However, the board, in its certificate dated Aug 11, reduced his disability from 45% to 20% and declared him ineligible for PwBD reservation. 

The Appellate Medical Board also found him ineligible under the PwBD category on Aug 21. The HC held that both boards had exceeded their jurisdiction by reassessing the percentage of disability.