HC quashes 79 percent reservation in UP govt medical colleges, orders strict 50 percent cap

Lucknow: The Allahabad High Court's Lucknow bench has quashed Uttar Pradesh government orders that resulted in over 79 percent reservation in government medical colleges in 4 districts. The direction came on a petition by a NEET 2025 candidate who argued that the state’s orders between 2010–2015 unlawfully pushed reservation beyond the 50% cap, leaving just seven out of 85 seats for the unreserved category. Rejecting the state’s reliance on the Indira Sawhney case, the court ruled that any hike in reservation must follow due legal process. It directed the state to refill seats strictly in line with the UP Reservation Act, 2006, ensuring the 50% ceiling is not crossed. According to a recent PTI report, the Allahabad High Court has nullified Uttar Pradesh government orders that led to reservation of over 79 per cent of seats in government medical colleges in Ambedkar Nagar, Kannauj, Jalaun, and Saharanpur districts. The Lucknow bench of the court has directed the state to fill the seats afresh in strict accordance with the Reservation Act of 2006, ensuring the reservation limit does not exceed the established 50 per cent cap. The verdict was delivered by a bench of Justice Pankaj Bhatia on Thursday in response to a petition filed by NEET candidate Sabra Ahmed. Also Read:NEET PwD Reservation must be based on Unique Disability ID card, Not Reassessment: Allahabad HC The petitioner, who scored 523 marks with an all-India rank of 29,061 in NEET-2025, argued that a series of government orders issued between 2010 and 2015 had unlawfully increased the reservation limit. The petition highlighted that in these colleges, which have 85 seats each in the state government quota, only seven seats were tobeing allocated to the unreserved category This was presented as a clear violation of the long-standing principle that reservation should not exceed 50 per cent. The state government and the Director General of Medical Education and Training opposed the petition, citing the Indira Sawhney case to argue that the 50 per cent limit was not absolute and could be exceeded. However, the court rejected this argument, stating that any increase in the reservation limit must be done in accordance with proper legal procedures and rules, adds PTI