JAMMU: In a landmark ruling, the High Court of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh has struck down the practice of reserving 100% seats for domicile students in private medical and paramedical colleges, terming it unconstitutional when it results in seat wastage.
Justice Sanjay Dhar, delivering the verdict, directed that once the local quota is exhausted, unfilled Bachelor of Physiotherapy (BPT) and AYUSH seats must be opened to candidates from outside J&K.
The judgment came on petitions filed by Jammu College of Physiotherapy and Jammu Institute of Ayurveda and Research, which had challenged government orders restricting admissions only to J&K domiciles under S.O. 175 of 2020. The institutions argued that the domicile restriction, coupled with mandatory NEET qualification, left many seats vacant annually, causing financial and academic setbacks.
While upholding NEET as a valid and merit-based admission criterion, the court ruled that enforcing 100% domicile reservation violates Articles 14 and 19(1)(g) of the Constitution. Citing Supreme Court precedents, the judgment noted that domicile-based reservations should not exceed 70% and that leaving seats unfilled constitutes a “national waste of resources.”
The court further directed the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) to continue NEET-based admissions but permitted lowering of cut-offs to fill vacancies. It also ordered that if sufficient domicile candidates are unavailable, the remaining seats must be offered at the all-India level. Provisional admissions made under interim court directions were also regularized.
