RAMNARESH @ RINKU KUSHWAH AND OTHERS vs STATE OF MADHYA PRADESH AND OTHERS

Bench: 2 — B.R. Gavai, K.V. Viswanathan

In Brief

The Supreme Court addressed whether meritorious candidates from reserved categories (SC/ST/OBC/EWS) who qualify on merit to unreserved seats in a Government School quota can be confined to reserved portions of that quota. The Court held that horizontal and vertical reservations cannot operate as rigid compartments excluding qualified candidates from open seats. Seven appellants, scoring higher than UR-GS cut-offs but classified as SC/OBC/EWS-GS, were wrongly denied unreserved seats. The Court ruled that the State's methodology was illegal and directed admission of all appellants in the 2024-25 academic year against UR-GS seats, emphasizing that merit-based selection must prevail in the open category regardless of reservation type.

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Medical Education Reservation - Horizontal Reservation - Vertical Educational Admissions Merit and Reservation MBBS Admissions Government School Quota Constitutional Equality Administrative Law

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