"If bogus creamy layer certificates are made the basis of grant of admission, this would have serious ramifications on the integrity process and would cause prejudice to students who are genuinely entitled as Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates," observed Justices D Y Chandrachud and A A Sayed recently while hearing a petition.
The judges said they expected that a comprehensive assessment should be made by the state government and senior officials, besides filing a reply as directed on or before December 18, the next date of the hearing.
The petitioner, Gauri Gharat, informed that she had secured admission to a private medical college at Aurangabad, though her preference was for a seat in a Government Medical College. She alleged that bogus OBC certificates were issued to students to enable them secure admissions.
On September 18, the court had asked the Secretary in Social Justice and Special Assistance Department to file an affidavit in reply to the petition, particularly with the allegations made, and explain the procedure which is followed for issuing non-creamy layer certificates. However, on going through the affidavit, the court noted that it only deals with the latter aspect.
The court noted that the contention and grievance of the petitioner is that creamy-layer certificates are routinely granted and have been given to students whose parents have an income in excess of the stipulated amount of Rs 4,50,000.
Therefore, the court felt that a further affidavit dealing with the allegations in the petition in that regard would be necessary.
Accordingly, the state has been asked to file another affidavit by December 18.
