Exclusion Of NCC 'A' Certificate Holders From NEET Grace Marks Is Reasonable Classification, Not Manifest Arbitrariness: Telangana High Court
The Court dismissed a challenge to G.O.Ms.No.75, holding that awarding grace marks only to NCC 'B' Certificate holders bears a rational nexus to incentivising cadets who pursue NCC beyond Class X.
The Telangana High Court has held that the State Government's decision to confine NEET-UG grace marks to holders of NCC Certificate 'B', while excluding holders of Certificate 'A', does not amount to manifest arbitrariness or violate Article 14 of the Constitution of India, since the differentia is founded on the level of NCC training completed and bears a rational nexus to the object of incentivising sustained participation in the Corps.
Dismissing the writ petition, the Court found that Certificate 'A' is awarded to students up to Class X, while Certificate 'B' is awarded only to those who complete Class X plus two years, the minimum qualification for appearing in NEET, and held that this distinction constituted a reasonable classification permissible under settled constitutional doctrine.
A Division Bench of Justice P. Sam Koshy and Justice Narsing Rao Nandikonda observed, “Insofar as exclusion of Certificate ‘A’ holders from being awarded grace marks, what is prima facie appearing is that Certificate ‘A’ is (as held earlier) provided to students below Class X, and Certificate ‘B’ is awarded to students who have done Class X + 2. Therefore, Class X + 2 is the minimum qualification required for participating in the NEET examination and therefore the Government decided to provide grace marks for students having Certificate ‘B’ which, in other words, would mean that there would be no incentive to students who have discontinued themselves from NCC beyond Class X or, in other words it would mean to provide incentive to only those candidates who have pursued NCC up till their 12th Standard which enables them to obtain Certificate ‘B’ . This, in the opinion of this Bench, is in itself a reasonable classification which can be drawn by the policy-makers”.
Senior Advocate B. Mayur Reddy appeared for the petitioner and N. Bhujanga Rao, Deputy Solicitor General of India appeared for the respondent.
The petitioner, a minor represented through his father, challenged Clause (iii)(a) of Rule 4 of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Rules, 2017, as amended by G.O.Ms.No.75 dated July 04, 2023. Until the 2024-25 academic session, NCC cadets were entitled to 1% horizontal reservation in MBBS/BDS admissions.
The amendment replaced this reservation with a graded scheme of grace marks for participation in the Republic Day Camp, Thal Sainik Camp/Vayu, and for holders of NCC Certificate 'B', but omitted holders of Certificate 'A' altogether. The petitioner did not challenge the shift from reservation to grace marks per se, but confined his grievance to the exclusion of Certificate 'A' holders, contending this was an unreasonable classification violative of Articles 14, 15(4) and 21 read with Article 46 of the Constitution of India.
The petitioner relied on Deepak Sibal v. Punjab University (1989) 2 SCC 145 to argue that the classification lacked a rational basis. The State opposed the petition, pointing out that an identical challenge to the same G.O. had already been rejected by a Division Bench headed by the Chief Justice in Silamkoti Yanjleena v. State of Telangana (decided November 17, 2025), which had upheld the policy shift from reservation to grace marks as a legitimate and rationally connected exercise of executive power.
The Bench extensively relied on the reasoning in Silamkoti Yanjleena, reiterating that courts exercise limited judicial review over policy choices between reservation and incentive-based schemes, and that no vested right or legitimate expectation could be claimed to the continuation of the earlier 1% reservation.
Applying the twin-test from Deepak Sibal, intelligible differentia and rational nexus to the object sought, the Court held that since Class X+2 is the threshold qualification for NEET, confining grace marks to Certificate 'B' holders rationally incentivises cadets who continue in the NCC beyond Class X, rather than being an arbitrary exclusion of Certificate 'A' holders.
Cause Title: Chatla Susheel Kumar v. The State of Telangana and Others, Writ Petition No.28320 of 2026.
Appearances:
Petitioner: B. Mayur Reddy, Senior Advocate.
Respondent: T. Sharath, N. Bhujanga Rao, Deputy Solicitor General of India.