Bilaspur. A division bench comprising Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice BD Guru heard a petition challenging the domicile requirement for admission to postgraduate medical courses in Chhattisgarh. The division bench declared the domicile-based reservation for postgraduate medical courses unconstitutional and struck it down.
The division bench stated in its judgment, "While granting admissions, especially to higher and specialized courses, merit must be prioritized to safeguard academic standards; relaxing merit at such levels under the guise of institutional reservation or domicile reservation would risk compromising crucial professional excellence." Petitioner Dr. Samridh Dubey, through Senior Advocate Rajiv Srivastava, Advocates Sandeep Dubey, Manas Vajpayee, and Kaifi Ali Rizvi, filed the petition in the High Court. The petition sought to declare Rule 11(b) of the Chhattisgarh Medical Postgraduate Admission Rules, 2025, unconstitutional for violating Article 14 of the Constitution of India. The petitioner sought to direct the state government not to discriminate between candidates.
Petitioner Dr. Samridhi Dubey states in her petition that she is a permanent resident of Chhattisgarh. Her parents are also permanent residents of Chhattisgarh. She completed her high school education in Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh. In 2018, she appeared for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (UG) 2018 to obtain admission to the MBBS course. Based on her All India Rank, she was allotted VMKV Medical College and Hospital, Salem, based on counseling conducted by the Medical Council Committee, organized by the Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India. She successfully completed her MBBS course in 2023 and also successfully completed her mandatory rotating medical internship from April 7, 2023, to April 6, 2024.
Subsequently, the National Medical Commission for Health and Family Welfare issued a notification for conducting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) for admission to postgraduate medical courses (NEET(PG)-2025), which is the only examination for admission to postgraduate medical courses in all Indian colleges and universities, except AIIMS. He applied for the NEET(PG) 2025 examination through the National Board of Examinations for Medical Sciences, submitted his application online, and received his admit card to appear in the NEET(PG)-2025 examination. The examination was held on August 3, 2025, and he successfully appeared and passed the NEET(PG)-2025 examination, securing an All India Rank of 75068. Based on the result, the petitioner is eligible for admission to the PG course.
The legality of Rule 5 was challenged
The State Government, by a gazette notification dated December 9, 2021, enacted rules called the Chhattisgarh Medical Postgraduate Admission Rules, 2021, under the Chhattisgarh Medical Colleges Admission to Postgraduate Courses Act, 2002, for admission to postgraduate medical courses. At that time, the PG Admission Rules, 2021, were in force, providing for admission to postgraduate medical courses under colleges located in the State of Chhattisgarh. In the old PG Admission Rules, 2021, Rule 4 provided for “Additional eligibility conditions for admission of NRI students.”
Rule 5 provides for "ineligibility for admission," while Rules 6 to 8 provide for "reservation of seats." Rule 11(a) of the PG Admission Rules, 2021, provides that admission to seats available under the state quota shall be granted first to candidates who have either obtained an MBBS degree from a medical college located in the State of Chhattisgarh or who are serving candidates. Rule 11(b) of the PG Admission Rules, 2021, provides that if seats remain vacant after admitting all eligible candidates as specified in sub-rule (b) of Rule 11, those vacant seats shall be filled by candidates who have obtained an MBBS degree from a medical college located outside the State of Chhattisgarh but are domiciles of the State of Chhattisgarh. Thus, this rule discriminates between students who have obtained an MBBS degree from another university by dividing them into two categories: those who have obtained degrees from medical colleges located in Chhattisgarh and those who have obtained degrees from outside Chhattisgarh.
Senior Advocate Rajiv Srivastava, appearing for petitioner Dr. Samridhi Dubey, stated that the petitioner had previously filed a writ petition challenging Rule 11(a) and Rule 11(b) of the Admission Rules, 2021. The matter came up for hearing on September 4, 2025. Following the hearing, this Court issued notice directing the State to file a return within two weeks, and granted the petitioner two weeks to file a rejoinder, if any. The matter subsequently came up for hearing on November 10, 2025. During the hearing, the State Government's counsel submitted that the new Chhattisgarh Medical Postgraduate Admission Rules, 2025, had come into effect, and thus, the petitioner withdrew the writ petition with the liberty to file a new writ petition challenging Rule 11(a) and 11(b) of the Chhattisgarh Medical Postgraduate Admission Rules, 2025.
University-based reservation is a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution.
Advocate Rajiv Srivastava argued that Rule 4 of the 2025 Rules provides for “Additional Conditions for Eligibility for Admission of Non-Resident Indian Students.” Rule 5 provides for “Ineligibility for Admission,” Rules 6 to 8 for “Reservation of Seats,” Rule 9 for “Bonus Marks for In-Service Candidates,” Rule 10 for “Merit List,” and Rule 11 for “Preference for Admission.” Rules 11(a) and 11(b) of the old 2021 Rules and Rules 11(a) and 11(b) of the new 2025 Rules are identical and have the same effect, thus providing 100% reservation to candidates with degrees from Chhattisgarh, as the Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Smriti University of Health Sciences and AYUSH is the sole jurisdiction within the state of Chhattisgarh. According to Rule 11(a) and (b), which provides for university-based reservation, it is unconstitutional and violative of Article 14 of the Indian Constitution as it creates an unfair classification between residents of the State and all others.
Citing the Supreme Court's decision
Citing a Supreme Court judgment, advocate Rajiv Srivastava argued, "If such reservations are allowed, it would violate the fundamental rights of many students who are being treated unequally simply because they are from a different state of the Union. This would violate the equality provision in Article 14 of the Constitution and amount to a denial of equality before the law."
The state government gave these arguments
Arguing on behalf of the state government, Deputy Advocate General Shashank Thakur stated that the Admission Rules, 2021, were previously in effect, and that Rules 11(a) and 11(b) of the Admission Rules, 2021, dealt with preference for admission to PG courses in state quota seats at medical colleges located in the state of Chhattisgarh. It was submitted that Rule 11(b) of the 2021 Rules provided for granting preference to candidates based on domicile. However, the 2025 Admission Rules removed this preference based on domicile because Rule 11(b) of the 2025 Admission Rules did not contain such conditions or provisions. A total of 10 government medical colleges and 4 private medical colleges are affiliated under the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Memorial Health Center and AYUSH University, Chhattisgarh. Candidates are admitted to medical colleges through the AYUSH University.
Seat reservation formula
All India Quota, Management Quota of Private Colleges, and NRI Quota. For admission to both undergraduate and postgraduate courses, 50% of seats are reserved for the All India Quota, while 50% are reserved for the State Quota. Admission to the All India Quota is conducted by the Medical Counseling Committee (MCC), while admission to the 50% State Quota seats is conducted by the Directorate of Medical Education, Medical Education Commission. The 2025 Rules regulate admission to the 50% State Quota seats in postgraduate courses. The 2021 Rules provided for reservation based on residence. Following the Supreme Court decision,
The state has framed new rules which are the rules of 2025. Shashank Thakur said that the Supreme Court's decision is very clear, in which the Supreme Court has clearly held that residence-based reservation in PG medical courses is unacceptable, however, institute-based reservation has been approved.
Rule 11 of the 2025 Rules deals with preference in admissions, and Rule 11(a) stipulates that state quota seats will be given preference to candidates who completed their MBBS degree from colleges affiliated with an AYUSH University. Rule 11(b) further stipulates that after admitting all eligible candidates, the remaining seats will be filled by candidates who have obtained MBBS degrees from state medical colleges, as per their eligibility. Institutional preference is given to candidates, and the preferred candidates cannot be natives of the state of Chhattisgarh, as most candidates admitted to MBBS courses at universities affiliated with an AYUSH University under All India seats are residents of other states. Thus, it can be clearly stated that there is no discrimination, as candidates residing in other states are given institutional preference.
The High Court wrote this in its decision:
After hearing the petition, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice BD Guru wrote in its judgment that given the importance of specialist doctors in postgraduate medical courses, reservation at higher levels based on 'residence' would violate Article 14 of the Indian Constitution. If such reservations are allowed, it would violate the fundamental rights of many students who would be treated unequally simply because they are from a different state of the Union. This would violate the Constitution. The equality clause in Article 14 of the Constitution would be violated and would amount to a denial of equality before the law.
Residence-based reservations in PG medical courses are unacceptable. State quota seats, in addition to a reasonable number of institution-based reservations, are to be filled solely on the basis of merit in an all-India examination. Thus, of the 64 seats to be filled by the State in its own quota, 32 could have been filled based on institutional preference, and this is valid. However, the remaining 32 seats, designated as the UT Chandigarh pool, were incorrectly filled based on residence, and we uphold the High Court's findings on this important aspect.
In view of the proposition of law laid down by the Supreme Court, Rule 11(a) and (b) of the Chhattisgarh Medical Post Graduate Admission Rules, 2025 are struck down as ultra vires and violative of Article 14 of the Constitution of India and the State shall not discriminate between the candidates belonging to the categories mentioned in Rule 11(a) and (b) of the Chhattisgarh Medical Post Graduate Admission Rules, 2025. Consequently, this petition is allowed.
