The Allahabad High Court has overturned a Uttar Pradesh government order that reserved over 79% of seats in government medical colleges in Ambedkar Nagar, Kannauj, Jalaun, and Saharanpur.
The Lucknow bench directed the state to reallocate seats strictly in line with the Reservation Act of 2006, ensuring that reservations do not exceed the legally established 50% cap.
Justice Pankaj Bhatia delivered the verdict in response to a petition filed by NEET-2025 candidate Sabra Ahmed. The petitioner, who scored 523 marks and secured an all-India rank of 29,061, argued that a series of state orders issued between 2010 and 2015 had unlawfully raised the reservation quota.
The plea pointed out that in each of these colleges where 85 seats fall under the state quota only seven seats were allotted to candidates from the unreserved category, violating the principle that reservations must remain within the 50% limit.
In defense, the state government and the Director General of Medical Education and Training cited the Indira Sawhney case, claiming that the 50% ceiling was not absolute. However, the court dismissed this argument, ruling that any increase in reservation must follow proper legal frameworks and established procedures.
