OCI card holders not eligible for Kalyana Karnataka quota seats: Karnataka High Court

Bengaluru: The High Court of Karnataka has ruled that Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) cardholders are not entitled to the reservation benefits under Article 371J of the Constitution. The court made this decision while dismissing a petition filed by Meghana Kuruvalli, a student from Bengaluru, who sought admission to MBBS and BDS courses under the Hyderabad-Karnataka quota for the 2024-25 academic year.

The Petitioner’s Claim
Meghana Kuruvalli, the petitioner, holds UK citizenship and an OCI card. She argued that she was eligible for the Kalyana Karnataka (Hyderabad-Karnataka) reservation under Article 371J. Born in Secunderabad and having studied in Ballari, a part of the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, she believed she should benefit from the regional reservation for education.

Article 371J and the 2013 Order
Article 371J of the Indian Constitution provides special provisions for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region, now called Kalyana Karnataka, granting reservation in education and government jobs to its residents. The Karnataka Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission in Hyderabad-Karnataka Region) Order, 2013, earmarks seats for students from this region.

Kuruvalli’s petition sought application of this reservation in her favour. However, the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) treated OCI cardholders as foreign nationals, eligible only for Non-Resident Indian (NRI) seats in private medical and dental colleges under the Karnataka Selection of Candidates for Admission to Government Seats in Professional Educational Institutions Rules, 2006.

Court’s Ruling: Citizenship vs Domicile
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice N V Anjaria and Justice K V Aravind, clarified that citizenship, which the petitioner holds in the United Kingdom, is a political status. Domicile, on the other hand, is linked to civil rights, including reservation benefits under Article 371J.

“The petitioner is a citizen of the United Kingdom but holding an OCI card could hardly be considered to be qualified to be grouped along with the category of students eligible and entitled to seek the benefit under Article 371J of the Constitution,” the bench remarked.

Distinct Classes
The court further noted that OCI cardholders under Section 7A of the Citizenship Act and beneficiaries of Article 371J fall under distinct and separate legal categories. The bench explained that the characteristics of the two groups are not comparable. Therefore, the provisions of Article 371J do not extend to OCI cardholders, and the reservation under this article cannot apply to them.

“The two classes are distinct with distinct characteristics in facts and in law, not comparable, nor liable to be grouped together for the purpose of admissions under the Hyderabad-Karnataka or Kalyana Karnataka quota under Article 371J of the Constitution,” the court stated.

Significance of the Ruling
The ruling is a crucial clarification on the legal boundaries of the rights available to OCI cardholders in India. It reinforces that citizenship and the civil rights tied to domicile within the country are separate legal concepts. This decision upholds the interpretation that the benefits of Article 371J are intended exclusively for Indian citizens domiciled in the Kalyana Karnataka region.

Conclusion
The Karnataka High Court’s decision has clarified that OCI cardholders cannot claim reservation benefits under Article 371J, designed to assist residents of the Hyderabad-Karnataka region. This distinction between citizenship and domicile is key in determining eligibility for such reservations, making it clear that foreign citizens with OCI cards fall outside the scope of these constitutional provisions.