The Orissa High Court has dismissed a petition filed by a NEET-UG candidate seeking admission to an MBBS seat under Odisha’s State Government School (SGS) quota, ruling that students cannot claim “dual educational privileges” to secure eligibility benefits.
A division bench comprising Justices Manash Ranjan Pathak and Sibo Sankar Mishra observed that the specialised institutional quota is applicable only to candidates who qualify through a single recognised educational framework under the state system.
The ruling came in a case where the petitioner attempted to combine marks from two separate educational boards to meet the minimum eligibility criteria for medical admissions.
Court Flags ‘Dual-Board’ Eligibility Issue
According to court records, the candidate completed Class 12 from Christ College, Cuttack, under the Council of Higher Secondary Education (CHSE), Odisha, in 2014. In the original examination, the student secured 44 marks in Physics, 47 in Chemistry, and 58 in Biology, resulting in an aggregate of 49.66 per cent — marginally below the required 50 per cent threshold for unreserved category medical admissions.
To improve eligibility, the student later appeared for a Chemistry examination conducted by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in October 2022 and increased the Chemistry score to 64 marks.
However, the High Court ruled that once the candidate relied on marks obtained through NIOS to meet the eligibility benchmark, the applicant could no longer be treated solely as a state-board pass-out for the purpose of claiming benefits under the SGS reservation category.
The bench clarified that the SGS quota is intended exclusively for students who complete their education entirely through the state government school system.
State Defends Reservation Guidelines
Representing the Odisha government, Additional Government Advocate J K Bal argued that the petitioner overlooked the structural requirements governing the SGS reservation policy.
The state maintained that the quota is a special institutional benefit reserved only for candidates who complete both Class 10 and Class 12 education from government-run schools under the state system.
The candidate had scored 264 out of 720 in NEET-UG 2025 and secured an All India Rank of 5,52,732 along with an SGS state rank of 425.
After failing to secure admission in the first three counselling rounds, the candidate was denied a seat during the final spot counselling held on November 13, 2025, due to the presence of dual-board academic credentials.
Petitioner Cited Article 14
The petitioner’s counsel, Ashok Kumar Swain, argued before the court that the denial was discriminatory and violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees equality before the law.
The counsel also contended that the National Medical Commission (NMC) recognises NIOS qualifications for medical admissions and pointed out that several lower-ranked NEET candidates had secured seats.
Despite these submissions, the High Court upheld the counselling authority’s decision.
High Court Upholds Admission Process
The court further observed that the Odisha Joint Entrance Examination (OJEE) counselling process had already concluded in November 2025, making it legally unsustainable to allot a reserved seat for the upcoming academic session.
The judgment is expected to serve as an important precedent regarding the interpretation of reservation eligibility and educational qualification standards in professional medical admissions across Odisha.
