NT Reporter
Panaji
The High Court of Bombay at Goa has quashed Clause 5.7 of the prospectus issued by the Director of Technical Education, Goa, which provided a 3% reservation in professional degree courses, including MBBS, in favour of children of Central/State government employees and persons in private occupations.
A division bench of Justices Bharati Dangre and Nivedita P Mehta observed that “merit, and merit alone, must be allowed to explore the fullest extent, for every seat is to be filled in on merits,” except where reservation is contemplated by the Constitution or by a law made by Parliament or a state legislature.
The petition was filed by Niyan Joseph Savio Marchon of Margao, whose ward, Asriel Joselie Olinda Marchon, had cleared NEET-UG and was aspiring for an MBBS seat.
Marchon sought to quash Clause 5.7 of the prospectus, which reserved 3% of seats for the category described as “Children of Central/State Government Employees and Persons in Private Occupations (CSP)”.
The court held that the classification in Clause 5.7 was not based on any intelligible differentia nor had any nexus with the object of the selection process, which is to grant admission on merit. It ruled that the provision failed the test of Article 14 of the Constitution.
Rejecting the state’s argument that the petitioner had no locus standi, the court said his ward was an aspirant for an MBBS seat and that was sufficient for him to challenge the rule.
The court noted that the prospectus set out rules for admissions to MBBS, BDS, BHMS, and BAMS courses in Goa, required all candidates to have valid NEET-UG 2025 scores, and prescribed various reservations. However, it found that introducing a 3% quota for this category without statutory backing under Article 15(5) created an impermissible sub-classification and violated the constitutional principle of equality.
