In Brief
Forty-four doctors who completed their MBBS/BDS from Karnataka colleges and qualified in NEET-PG challenged the eligibility clause in the State's Information Bulletin for postgraduate medical admissions. The clause imposed a "Karnataka origin" domicile condition, effectively excluding MBBS graduates from competing for government and government-quota seats unless they met strict origin criteria. The Supreme Court held the condition invalid under Article 14 (equality). Following its earlier decision in Vishal Goyal v. Karnataka (2014), the Court ruled that while institutional preference (up to 50% of seats for same-institution candidates) is permissible, disguised domicile restrictions that arbitrarily exclude meritorious candidates violate equality. The State was directed to amend the Information Bulletin to permit all MBBS/BDS graduates from Karnataka colleges to compete on merit.
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