Madhya Pradesh HC quashes quota for State MBBS students in PG for breaching 50 percent cap
Court holds 100% institutional preference for PG medical seats in private colleges is unconstitutional, limits all reservations to 50% cap
The Madhya Pradesh High Court has struck down an amendment notification by the State government that reserved 100 percent of postgraduate (PG) seats in private medical colleges for students who completed MBBS in Madhya Pradesh colleges, including institutional preference, in-service, and NRI quotas. Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf ruled that this provision violated the law laid down by the Supreme Court, which strictly limits all reservations to a maximum of 50 percent.
The Court observed that restricting eligibility in the first round of counseling to only MBBS graduates from within the State, even with an ostensible relaxation in subsequent rounds, effectively resulted in all PG seats being filled by institutional candidates, excluding others. This practice, combined with 15% NRI quota and 30% in-service reservation, meant the State reserved all seats in one category or another, breaching the constitutional 50 percent ceiling for reservations.
The High Court declared the amended rules unconstitutional, directed that the petitioners and similar candidates be permitted to register for counseling, and ordered that all forms of reservation in private medical colleges’ PG admissions—including NRI, in-service, and institutional preference—must not exceed the 50 percent threshold. The judgment is limited to admissions in private medical colleges.