New Delhi | June 2025:
A significant controversy has reached the doorstep of the Supreme Court concerning postgraduate medical admissions in Chandigarh. A fresh plea has been filed challenging the recent decision to convert the Union Territory (UT) domicile quota seats in NEET-PG into the All India Quota (AIQ) a move that could reshape how postgraduate medical seats are allocated in the region.
What’s the Controversy?
At the heart of the dispute is the elimination of the Chandigarh UT quota for NEET-PG aspirants. Traditionally, a certain number of postgraduate medical seats were reserved for students who were domiciled in Chandigarh, ensuring that local candidates had a fair opportunity in admissions.
However, the new seat matrix released for NEET-PG 2025 by the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) reallocates those UT quota seats into the national AIQ pool, effectively making no domicile-based reservation available for Chandigarh students.
Petitioner’s Stand: Violation of Rights
The petition, filed before the Supreme Court, argues that this conversion is arbitrary, discriminatory, and violates Article 14 (Right to Equality) of the Constitution. The petitioner, a Chandigarh-based MBBS graduate, contends that the abrupt withdrawal of domicile quota without due consultation or public notification is prejudicial and leaves local aspirants disadvantaged.
The plea also asserts that many students from UT Chandigarh pursued their entire schooling and medical education in the city with the legitimate expectation of benefiting from domicile reservation in PG courses.
Legal and academic experts have flagged the issue as a policy grey area, especially considering that UTs like Puducherry still retain domicile quotas for PG medical courses. The absence of clarity in MCC’s decision-making and the lack of a statutory or regulatory backing for the change may form a strong basis for judicial scrutiny.
Further, concerns have been raised about how this decision might affect regional equity in medical education, with centralization disadvantaging candidates from smaller territories or UTs.
Supreme Court Hearing & Relief Sought
The petitioner has urged the apex court to:
• Stay the implementation of the altered seat matrix for Chandigarh until the case is decided.
• Direct the MCC to restore the UT domicile quota for the academic year 2024-25.
• Examine whether the MCC has the authority to unilaterally change reservation policies without stakeholder input.
The matter is expected to be listed urgently, given that NEET-PG counselling is scheduled to begin shortly, and any delay may render the plea infructuous.
This case is not just about Chandigarh it highlights the broader implications of centralized decision-making in India’s medical education system. If domicile quotas in UTs can be eliminated without clear justification, other regions may soon find their local representation in medical colleges shrinking.
Moreover, it reignites the debate around the balance between national merit and regional equity, especially when medical manpower distribution is already skewed across urban and rural areas.
Case Title: Dr. Shagun Gupta v. Union of India & Ors.
