AARTI GUPTA AND ORS. vs STATE OF PUNJAB AND ORS.

The Supreme Court upheld the Punjab Government's decision to lower the qualifying marks for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates from 35% to 25% for M.B.B.S./B.D.S. admissions, stating that the Indian Medical Council's Regulation II is merely recommendatory and not binding. The Court emphasized that the government's action was not arbitrary as it aimed to fill the reserved seats when eligible candidates were insufficient. The Court also noted that the admission of 68 candidates from the reserved category had already commenced, making it impractical to cancel their admissions.