The Allahabad High Court has stayed a Uttar Pradesh government order reserving 62 of the 85 MBBS seats in each of four government medical colleges for Scheduled Caste candidates, holding that it defied the Court's earlier directions and the State's own undertaking to follow the U.P. Admission to Educational Institutions (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Act, 2006.

The bench of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Amitabh Kumar Rai held,

“This Court is of the considered view that the impugned Government Order is clearly in the teeth of the directions issued by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench as well as the undertaking furnished by the State Government before this Court and clearly amounts to contempt of court.”

Petitioners, NEET-UG 2026 candidates ranked in the General and EWS categories, challenged the Government Order dated 01.09.2026 for the colleges at Ambedkar Nagar, Kannauj, Jalaun and Saharanpur. Of 85 seats in each, 62 were reserved for Scheduled Castes, 5 for Scheduled Tribes and 11 for Other Backward Classes, leaving only 7 unreserved.

In Sabra Ahmad v. State of U.P. and Others, a Single Judge had quashed earlier Government Orders fixing quotas in these colleges beyond the Act of 2006 for the 2025-26 session. In appeal, the State did not dispute the legal findings but sought protection of ongoing admissions. The Division Bench allowed that session's admissions to continue on the State's undertaking that from 2026-27, reservation would be strictly as per the Act of 2006, i.e. 21%, 2% and 27% for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes respectively.

“This Court is of the considered view that the impugned Government Order is clearly in the teeth of the directions issued by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench as well as the undertaking furnished by the State Government before this Court and clearly amounts to contempt of court.”

“Once the law had been clearly laid down by the learned Single Judge and the Division Bench in special appeal had interfered only to the limited extent of protecting the existing admission process for the then current academic year while further specifically directing that the provisions of the Act of 2006 was to be followed from the next academic session, i.e. 2026- 27 and an oral undertaking had also been given before this Court, then there appears to be no justification for the State Government to have passed an order contrary to the directions of this Court and its own undertaking.”

It held that the Division Bench had interfered only to save the admissions of that session, leaving no justification for the fresh order. The State's only defence, that the colleges were set up under a Special Component Plan, had already been rejected in the earlier round of litigation.

Accordingly, the Court stayed Clause 6(क)(ii) of the Government Order and granted liberty to proceed with admissions strictly as per the Act of 2006. The Additional Chief Secretary, Medical Education, has been directed to file a personal affidavit within ten days explaining how the order came to be passed, after which initiation of contempt proceedings will be considered.

The matter is listed on 12.10.2026.

Case Title: Sachin Singh And Another v. State Of U.P. Thru. Prin. Secy. Deptt. Medical Education And 3 Others

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