NEET PG: MP HC issues notice on plea against rule barring non-state MBBS graduates
Madhya Pradesh High Court
Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court recently issued notice on a plea that challenged the notification and advisory barring candidates who completed MBBS outside the State from participating in the first round of the National Eligibility Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2025 counselling for admission in the Government Medical College.
Issuing notice, the HC Division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf, granted four weeks to the Director of Medical Education and the State Government to file their replies and listed the matter for January 2, 2026.
The plea before the HC bench has been filed by two MBBS graduates, who completed their MBBS degree in Gujarat, and after completing their internships, one of the petitioners got registered with the Gujarat Medical Council, while the other one obtained registration with the Madhya Pradesh Medical Council.
Subsequently, both candidates appeared for the NEET PG 2025 exam, secured high ranks, and became eligible for the counselling process. The counselling was initially scheduled between October 24 and November 22, 2025, and accordingly, the Director of Medical Education published the detailed counselling schedule. However, the first round of counselling, scheduled to be conducted on November 9, 2025, was postponed until further notice.
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Thereafter, an advisory was issued on October 28, 2025, under which point 12 specified that only candidates who had completed their MBBS from institutes within Madhya Pradesh would be allowed to participate in the first round of counselling.
It was further mentioned under Point 13 that the candidates who obtained their MBBS degree from institutes outside the State would be allowed to participate only in the subsequent rounds, and even then, the preference would be given to those who studied in Madhya Pradesh.
Additionally, the Department of Technical Education, Skill Development and Employment issued a gazette notification on September 3, 2025, which mentioned that candidates who have completed their MBBS outside Madhya Pradesh could be allotted seats only if candidates who studied their MBBS within the State were unavailable.
Challenging these conditions, the petitioner students approached the High Court bench. It was argued in the plea that these restrictions contradicted the Madhya Pradesh Niji Vyavsayik Shikshan Sanstha (Pravesh Ka Viniyaman Evam Shulk ka Nirdharan) Adhiniyam, 2007, under which, preference is given based on domicile and not the place of the student. It was argued in the plea that since both petitioners are domiciled in Madhya Pradesh, they should be allowed to participate fully in all rounds of counselling, Live Law has reported.
However, the plea pointed out that, as per the notification dated September 3, 2025, the petitioners would not receive preference and would be considered for seats only if the candidates who completed their MBBS within the States were unavailable.
The petitioners argued that the State has indirectly created a 100% institutional reservation for candidates who completed their MBBS in Madhya Pradesh, which was contrary to the Supreme Court guidelines.
Therefore, the petition claimed that these Rules and Notifications violated Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution by being irrational, arbitrary and discriminatory. Accordingly, the plea sought a declaration stating that the September 3, 2025, amendment was ultravires as well as points 12 and 13 of the October 28, 2025, Advisory were unconstitutional.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that in a recent judgment, the Madhya Pradesh High Court held that the amendment introduced in the MP Medical Education Admission Rules, 2018, which barred students who have completed their MBBS from institutes outside the State from seeking admission to post-graduate medical courses in the private medical colleges in the State, was unconstitutional.
Clarifying that there shall be no reservation exceeding total seats in postgraduate courses in private medical colleges, including all the categories i.e. NRI, In-service and Institutional preference, the HC Division Bench of Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf in its order dated November 19 observed, "Clearly, as the reservation in private colleges in one form or other exceeds 50%, same cannot be countenanced. As noticed .., 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 3rd September, 2025 is unconstitutional to the extent that it creates a 100% reservation of all the seats in Postgraduate course in private colleges."
