Supreme Court dismisses SLP challenging Nagaland MBBS central pool eligibility policy, refusing to interfere with Gauhati High Court ruling.
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DIMAPUR — The Supreme Court has dismissed a special leave petition filed by Vatsala Panghal challenging a Gauhati High Court (GHC) judgement that upheld the Nagaland government’s eligibility policy for central pool MBBS seats.
A bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe, after hearing senior counsel for the parties, said it was “not inclined to interfere with the impugned judgment(s) and order(s) passed by the High Court.” The court accordingly dismissed the special leave petition and disposed of accompanying interlocutory applications.
The petition arose out of a Division Bench judgement of Gauhati High Court dated October 23, 2025, which had set aside an earlier single-judge order in favour of Panghal.
The case concerns eligibility for MBBS seats allotted to Nagaland under the central pool. Panghal, daughter of a colonel commanding the 1 Nagaland Battalion NCC, had challenged her exclusion from the list of candidates eligible under the state quota for central pool medical seats.
Also read: Supreme Court grants interim relief to petitioner in Nagaland MBBS quota case
A single-judge bench of GHC had on August 14, 2025, quashed the Nagaland government’s September 9, 2021 notification prescribing eligibility criteria for central pool seats, holding it arbitrary and inconsistent with guidelines issued by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
However, in its October 23 judgement, the Division Bench of Chief Justice Ashutosh Kumar and Justice Arun Dev Choudhury reversed that decision. The court held that the “deficient state” quota and the “defence personnel” quota under the central pool are distinct and mutually exclusive categories serving separate policy objectives.
The High Court observed that Panghal, as a ward of Defence personnel, could not claim eligibility under the state quota in addition to the dedicated defence quota.
It also noted that the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare had clarified that 42 MBBS and four BDS seats are allocated annually to Nagaland under the central pool, while a separate quota of 42 MBBS and three BDS seats is reserved for the Ministry of Defence.
The Division Bench concluded that the state’s 2021 notification prescribing eligibility criteria for its central pool seats was not arbitrary or discriminatory.