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Education LawSupreme Court of India

Vishal Goyal v. State of Karnataka

Writ Petition (Civil) · Neutral citation not assigned (Writ Petition (Civil) No. 48 of 2014)Decided 24 Apr 2014
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 48 of 2014
Justice A.K. Patnaik · Justice F.M. Ibrahim Kalifulla

Background

Students who had completed MBBS or BDS in Karnataka were excluded from the State's postgraduate entrance process because they did not meet additional Karnataka-origin requirements. They challenged the 2014 admission bulletins as discriminatory. Interim orders allowed them to take the entrance test while their petitions were considered.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the petitions and struck down the challenged Karnataka-origin eligibility clause as contrary to Article 14. Institutional preference could not be defined so as to exclude graduates of Karnataka institutions merely because they failed the additional origin conditions. The equality requirement applied to State-quota seats in private colleges as well as government colleges. The State had to publish fresh bulletins and complete the affected 2014-15 admissions by the end of June 2014 using the test results already obtained, with the general timetable relaxed for that exercise.

Lesson Learnt

For the admissions considered here, studying in the State's own medical or dental institutions could not be disregarded through an additional origin barrier. Eligibility for consideration still did not guarantee a postgraduate seat; the lawful selection process had to follow.

Vishal Goyal v. State of Karnataka – Legal Case Shots | LegalAware