Panaji: The Bombay High Court has struck down the Goa government's move to introduce a sports quota for admissions to the medical and dental colleges after the process had already begun, holding that it was contrary to the binding rules in the admission prospectus.
A division bench of Justices Bharati H Dangre and Nivedita P Mehta passed the order on a petition filed by an NEET candidate challenging a notice issued on August 1 by the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) inviting sportspersons to apply for unfilled seats under the Children of Freedom Fighters (CFF) category.
A copy of the order dated August 25 was made available on Tuesday.
The bench observed that the common admission prospectus for 2025-26 "has the force of law and is binding on both the authorities and the candidates," emphasising that timelines are the essence of the admission procedure.
"Without amending the prospectus or notifying modifications therein, inviting applications under a new category after commencement of counselling amounts to changing the rules of the game after it has begun," the court held.
The prospectus covered 180 seats for MBBS at Goa Medical College, Bambolim and 50 seats for a five-year BDS course at the Goa Dental College.
Senior advocate S S Kantak, appearing for the petitioner, had argued that the DTE had published a schedule for counselling for admission to MBBS courses on July 28 and, according to it, the first round of counselling was to be held on August 1, but it was rescheduled to August 5.
The petitioner participated in the first round of counselling for MBBS/BDS held on August 5, and at the end of the first round, the candidate with rank 78 secured the last seat in MBBS in the general category, and the candidate with rank 108 secured the first seat in BDS in the general category, it was stated.
There were only two candidates ranked higher than the petitioner, who did not secure admission, and this gave him hope that he had a chance to occupy either a seat in MBBS or BDS in the general category.
However, the creation of a new sports quota crushed his hopes.
"The government permitted eligible meritorious persons to prefer an application for the first time under the sports quota by fixing the cut-off date that is August 14," the petition stated.
Kantak argued that the state government's move, after publication of the ranking in the merit list and the scheduled date of the first session of counselling, amounted to changing the rules of the game after it had begun.
The government, represented by Advocate General Devidas Pangam, defended the policy, citing its executive powers and the Goa Sports Policy 2009.
Sports bodies, including the Goa Football Association and Fencing Association, intervened in support of the quota, arguing that many states had already adopted similar measures.
The bench, in its order, mentioned that cut-off dates were prescribed for filling applications, and the merit list by applying the criteria prescribed in the Rules was published on July 30.
"Had it been a case that the sports quota reservation was already indicated in the prospectus, we must make it clear that we would not have interfered as it was for the state authority to determine in whose favour the reservation would lie, or upon a candidate from particular category not being available, the seat shall go to which category," the order stated.
While clarifying that the state is free to frame policies to encourage sports, the bench stressed such measures must be incorporated before the admission process begins.
"Introducing the quota after publication of the merit list and during ongoing counselling adversely impacts the fairness and transparency of the admission process," the court noted.
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