In Brief
Petitioners challenged Rule 3(1)(c) of Assam's MBBS/BDS admission rules, which requires candidates to study in all classes VII–XII in Assam and pass the qualifying exam from an Assam institute to be eligible for State quota seats. The Court upheld the rule as constitutional. It held that States may validly prescribe educational and residential requirements for State quota seats in professional courses to ensure doctors serve the State. The classification is based on intelligible differentia (likelihood of service) and has rational nexus to a legitimate objective. Candidates studying outside the State do so with knowledge of ineligibility for State quota and can access all-India quota seats. No distinction between government and private employees is required; private employees' children are unlikely to return to serve. The exclusion is not total, making it reasonable under Article 14.
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