In Brief
The Supreme Court set aside a High Court decision upholding a 75% marks eligibility condition for engineering admissions under a 2% sports quota at PEC University, Chandigarh. The appellant, a sports candidate who scored below 75%, challenged this criterion as arbitrary. The Court held that imposing an identical high academic threshold for sports candidates defeats the quota's purpose—promoting sports excellence, not academic merit. The Court found discrimination because SC/ST candidates in the same quota needed only 65%, and the institution had previously required only "10+2 Pass." Vacancies must now be filled based on sports policy merit criteria, not academic marks alone, without disturbing existing admissions.
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