HC stays govt order reserving 78 of 85 MBBS seats in 4 medical colleges each, flags contempt
Lucknow: In a recent ruling, the Allahabad High Court stayed the clause in a Government Order that provided inflated reservation for Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe candidates in respect of four Government Medical Colleges.
According to the High Court bench comprising Justices Alok Mathur and Amitabh Kumar Rai, the Government Order dated September 1, 2026 was contrary to the earlier directions of the High Court.
The Court passed this order while considering the plea filed by aggrieved students who appeared in the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Undergraduate (NEET-UG) 2026 examination and secured high ranks in the General as well as EWS category.
"This Court is of the considered view that the impugned Government Order is clearly in the teeth of the directions issued by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench as well as the undertaking furnished by the State Government before this Court and clearly amounts to contempt of court," observed the High Court bench.
"In view of the above, Clause 6(क)(ii) of the impugned Government Order dated 01.09.2026 (annexed as Annexure No.1 to the writ petition) shall remain stayed until further orders of this Court. Liberty is granted to the respondents to proceed with the admissions, if they choose, strictly in terms of the reservation provided for in the Act of 2006," it ordered.
Case Background:
According to the case details, the petitioners wished to pursue MBBS through the State counselling process, and they were eligible to compete for Open Merit/Unreserved Category seats on the strength of their merit. Their grievance pertained to the G.O. dated 01.09.2026, as per which special reservation was prescribed for four medical institutions situated at Ambedkar Nagar, Kannauj, Jalaun and Saharanpur.
Out of 85 seats in each of these four institutes, 62 seats were reserved for Scheduled Caste candidates, 5 seats for Scheduled Tribe candidates, 11 seats for Other Backward Candidates and only 7 seats were kept for Unreserved candidates.
The issue of inflated reservation made in favour of SC and ST candidates in these four Government Medical Colleges was already raised before the High Court in a Writ petition, where reservation in favour of SC candidates had exceeded 79%.
The petitioners argued that by the order dated 01.09.2026 not only had the Court's orders been violated with impunity, but the statutory prescription of the percentage of the reservation as provided for in the U.P. Admission to Educational Institutions (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 2006(Act of 2006) had been breached. Therefore, they argued that the order was illegal.
Further, they contended that in the impugned Government Order, instead of complying with the Single Judge Bench and Division Bench's order, the State continued with the enhanced reservation of more than 60% in favour of the schedule caste candidates.
Observations by the Court:
While considering the matter, the HC bench observed that the Division Bench had also opined that the reservation could be provided only in accordance with the Act of 2006, namely, 21%, 2% and 27% reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, in admissions to professional colleges and educational institutions including medical colleges.
The Court had directed the State to submit an undertaking to implement the said reservation from the next academic session. Accordingly, the State had undertaken to implement the same from the academic session 2026-2027.
However, in this case, the HC Bench observed that despite clear directions by the Single and Division Bench and the oral undertaking, the State, by passing the impugned order, had reneged on the undertaking given before the Court and passed the impugned order totally contrary to the provisions of the 2006 Act and had enhanced the reservation beyond the permissible limit prescribed under the Act of 2006.
Accordingly, the bench observed, "Once the law had been clearly laid down by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench in special appeal had interfered only to the limited extent of protecting the existing admission process for the then current academic year while further specifically directing that the provisions of the Act of 2006 was to be followed from the next academic session, i.e. 2026- 27 and an oral undertaking had also been given before this Court, then there appears to be no justification for the State Government to have passed an order contrary to the directions of this Court and its own undertaking."
With this observation, the bench stayed Clause 6(क)(ii) of the impugned Government Order dated September 1, 2026 until further orders of the Court. It granted liberty to the authorities to proceed with the admissions, if they choose, strictly in terms of the reservation provided for in the Act of 2006.
The bench listed the matter for further hearing on October 12, 2026 and ordered, "In the aforesaid circumstances, let a personal affidavit be filed by the Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh, explaining as to how the impugned order came to be passed in clear violation of the directions issued by the learned Single Judge vide judgment dated 25.08.2025 passed in Writ-C No. 7820 of 2025, as well as the order dated 04.09.2025 passed by the Division Bench in Special Appeal No. 295 of 2025. The aspect of initiation of contempt proceedings shall be considered after the said affidavit is filed. Let the affidavit be filed within ten days. In the meantime, the respondents may file their counter-affidavits."
To view the order, click on the link below:
https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/2026/09/22/sachin-singh-and-another-vs-state-of-up-476501.pdf
