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Gauhati: Denying relief to a medical aspirant who was denied an MBBS seat allocated to the Nagaland Government under the Central Pool MBBS quota despite securing the qualifying cut-off, the Gauhati High Court upheld the State Government's 2021 notification, through which wards of the Army Personnel were excluded from Nagaland's Central Pool Quota.Even though earlier a single judge bench had allowed the petitioner's plea, and it had quashed the State's notification dated September 9, 2021, the Division Bench of the High Court found the notification consistent with Central Government guidelines on seat allocation and policy intent.Accordingly, the HC Division bench observed, "It is well settled that a writ court cannot, in the exercise of its power of judicial review, compel the executive to merge or cross-apply distinct quota categories unless the exclusion is manifestly arbitrary, which it is not in the present case.""However, the learned single judge overlooked the foundational distinction between the two categories: these two quotas serve a distinct policy objective. When the Guidelines dated 28.07.2027 are not meant for the defence quota, the impugned notification dated 09.09.2021 does not offend the writ petitioner, and such a notification cannot be struck down as a whole at the behest of the writ petitioner," further noted the HC Bench comprising Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury.The plea before the Single Judge bench was filed by a medical aspirant, the daughter of a serving Army Officer posted with the 1 Nagaland Battalion NCC in Kohima. After being denied a seat under Nagaland's Central Pool MBBS quota despite scoring above the NEET-UG cut-off, the aspirant challenged the State's notification dated September 9, 2021, issued by the Department of Higher and Technical Education, which laid down eligibility conditions for MBBS seats allotted to Nagaland from the Central Pool of 42 seats provided annually by the Central Government.The petitioner argued that the notification was unsustainable as it contradicted the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW) Guidelines via a Office Memorandum (OM) dated July 28, 2025. She also contended that these Ministry guidelines entitled children of Central Government employees posted within a State—under Clause 1.2.4—to be treated on par with local residents.It was further contended by the petitioner that though 42 numbers of seats are reserved for the wards of personnel under Ministry of Defence, the same will not debar her from availing dual eligibility for the Central Pool quota meant for State of Nagaland and it is her privilege that allows her to choose one of the entitlements, which has been denied to her by the impugned Notification Dated 09.09.2021.Back in August 2025, a single-judge bench of the Gauhati High Court accepted her contention and held that the State's 2021 notification was arbitrary, violative of Article 14 of the Constitution, and inconsistent with the MoHFW guidelines. Accordingly, the Court had quashed the notification holding it to be arbitrary and contradictory to the Office Memorandum dated 28.07.2025 issued by the Central Government prescribing guidelines for allocation of Central Pool MMBS /BDS seats for the academic year 2025-2026.Challenging this order, the Nagaland Government appealed before the Gauhati High Court Principal Bench. The State Government argued that it has the authority to frame eligibility criteria for seats allocated to it under the Central Pool Scheme, which is meant to compensate State lacking medical colleges. It also argued that the Central Pool comprised of distinct sub-quotas as one for deficient States and another for defence personnel and both of these sub-quotas are managed by the Union Health Ministry.The State further contended that since 42 MBBS and 3 BDS seats are separately earmarked each year for wards of defence personnel through the Ministry of Defence, dual benefit under two different quotas cannot be claimed.During the case hearings, the Division Bench of the High Court questioned the Central Government Counsel (CGC) whether the clause 1.2.4 of the MohFW’s July 28 OM would include Army Officers.Referring to a letter dated September 17, 2025, addressed to the CGC by the Under Secretary to the Government of India, the Central Government Council Mr. Gogoi submitted that the petitioner petitioner cannot be allotted a seat from amongst the 42 MBBS Central Pool seats allotted to the State of Nagaland under Guidelines dated 28.07.2025.The Under Secretary had explained in the letter that "So far as the matter related to treating of Army personnel as central government employee in clause 1.2.4 of Ministry's Guidelines dated 27.07.2025. it is informed that these seats are allocated to the State to compensate for the shortage of medical infrastructure and to provide opportunities for the students of the State to integrate into the mainstream. Additionally, a separate quota is...
