Supreme Court Allows Goa MBBS Seat In Sports Quota To International Sailor Pearl Milind Colvalcar

The Supreme Court recently directed the State of Goa to grant one medical seat under the Sports Quota to India's international sports sailor, Pearl Milind Colvalcar, for admission to NEET (UG) 2025.Colvalcar had challenged the August 25 order of the Bombay High Court(Goa Bench), whereby it quashed and set aside a decision of the Goa State Government allocating vacant seats under the Children of Freedom Fighter category to eligible meritorious sports persons under the sports quota.A bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice AS Chandurkar, however, refused to interfere with the High Court's order on merits but granted relief to the petitioner considering the special circumstances.It was observed that the decision of the Court to direct reservation of one seat for the petitioner should not be treated as precedent: "We are not inclined to interfere with the order passed by the High Court. However, in the facts and circumstances of the case and to do complete justice, we direct that one seat in terms of advertisement dated 01.08.2025 under Sports Quota be adjusted from out of a seat that would have remained unfilled. This direction is in the peculiar facts and circumstances of the case and shall not be treated as a precedent."By an order dated August 25, the High Court set against a government decision dated August 1 whereby the said allotment to eligible meritorious sports persons was made. The petitioner sought admission in an MBBS course under the sports quota in the NEET(UG) 2025. However, the decision was set aside on the grounds that it was arbitrary and amounted to changing the rules midway through the admission process.It was argued by the petitioner that the High Court's judgment is erroneous because it fails to note that the Goa Sports Policy, 2009, was approved, which included provisions for reservation of 3% seats in all levels of graduate students to outstanding sportspersons who have represented the State and won medals at recognised national or international championships.Case Details: PEARL MILIND COLVALCAR v STATE OF GOA AND ORS|Diary No. 49037-2025Click Here To Read OrderAppearances: Appellant Mr. Dama Seshadri Naidu, Sr. Adv. Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv. Mr. Aniruddha Awalgaonkar, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, AOR Mr. Sarthak Mehrotra, Adv. Mr. Bhagwant Deshpande, Adv. Ms. Subhi Pastor, Adv. Mr. Sahil Sood, Adv. Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, AOR For Respondent(s) : Mr. Atmaram N.s. Nadkarni, Sr. Adv. Mr. Salvador Santosh Rebello, AOR Mr. Raghav Sharma, Adv. Ms. Kritika, Adv. Mr. Jaskirat Pal Singh, Adv. Ms. Deepti Arya, Adv. Ms. Arzu Paul, Adv. Ms. Manisha Gupta, Adv. Ms. Himanshi Nagpal, Adv. Mr. Prashant Dixit, Adv. Ms. Pratiksha Singh, Adv. Mr. Gaurav Sharma, Sr. Adv. Mr. Dhawal Mohan, Adv. Mr. Prateek Bhatia, Adv. Mr. Abhay Anil Anturkar, Adv. Mr. Dhruv Tank, Adv. Ms. Surbhi Kapoor, AOR Mr. D'Costa Ivo Manuel Simon, AOR Mr. Guruprasad Naik, Adv.

Supreme Court Allows Goa MBBS Seat In Sports Quota To International Sailor Pearl Milind Colvalcar

Gursimran Kaur Bakshi

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