Madhya Pradesh High Court quashes quota for state MBBS graduates for breaching 50% CAP

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ruled that private medical colleges cannot allocate more than 50% of their total postgraduate (PG) seats to NRI, in-service, or institutional preference categories.

According to several media reports, a division bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf struck down the state government’s amendment notification that granted 100% institutional preference for PG medical seats in private colleges to students who completed their MBBS in Madhya Pradesh. The bench said it was impermissible as per the law laid down by the Supreme Court

"Clearly, as the reservation in private colleges in one form or other exceeds 50%, same cannot be countenanced. As noticed hereinabove, 100% reservation is being given to in one form or the other which as per the Supreme Court is not permissible. Accordingly, said rule as amended on September 3, 2025 is unconstitutional to the extent that it creates a 100% reservation of all the seats in postgraduate course in private colleges," the court said.

The Court was informed that a key eligibility criterion for admission to these PG seats was that the candidate must have obtained an MBBS degree from a medical college within Madhya Pradesh.

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The Court observed that of the 1,026 seats, 15% are reserved for the NRI quota, 30% for in-service candidates, and the remaining seats are to be allotted based on institutional preference. This implies that all 100% seats in private medical colleges in PG courses have been reserved in one category or another, the Court added.

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According to the media reports, there was an exception to the clause that in case a sufficient number of students are not available in the first round of counselling, then the said restriction would not apply in the second round, the Court was told.

However, it was contended that there are limited number of PG seats and they are likely to get filled by way of reservation and preference given to the students who have qualified for MBBS from medical colleges in the state. In response, the State said there was no 100% institutional preference, but it was a case of sequential preference.

Additionally, it further said that the State wants to retain and advance the talent trained within the region. The State government argued that the medical students trained in Madhya Pradesh are better suited to the State's healthcare landscape. However, the Court agreed with the petitioners’ submission that the seats were likely to be filled in the first round.

The Court further observed that, under the amended rules, a candidate who does not register for the MP NEET PG round 1 counselling is ineligible to participate in the round 2 or subsequent rounds of counselling. It also noted that only students who have completed their MBBS from colleges in Madhya Pradesh are permitted to take part in the first round of counselling.