Vipul M. Pancholi, J.

1. By way of present petition which is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, petitioners have challenged the validity of Rules 4(4), 4(5)(A)(a) and Rule 4(5)(A)(b) of the Gujarat Professional Medical Educational Courses (Regulation of Admission in Undergraduate Courses) Rules, 2017, (hereinafter referred to as the Rules of 2017), insofar as it makes National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) mandatory for students aspiring to get admissions to Bachelor of Ayurveda, Medicine and Surgery (BAMS) and Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery (BHMS) courses. Petitioners have sought declaration that the said provisions be declared as ultra vires.

2. The factual matrix of the present case is as under:

2.1. The petitioners have appeared in 12th Standard Examination (Group B) conducted by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, Gandhinagar for the academic year 2017- 2018. Petitioners secured qualifying marks in 12th Standard Examination. Petitioners were eligible to appear in NEET conducted by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE). However, as per the case of the petitioners the same was required for getting admission to Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) courses. It is the say of the petitioners that they appeared in NEET for the sake of appearing as they were otherwise eligible to appear without any serious aspiration to get admissions to MBBS and BDS courses. However, they failed to get qualifying marks in NEET prescribed for the purpose of securing admission to MBBS and BDS courses.

2.2. It is stated that as a result of insertion of Section 10-D in Indian Medical Council Act, 1956 and the Dentists Act, 1948, NEET become the sole criteria for the students aspiring to take admissions to medical courses w.e.f. the academic year 2017-18. It is the case of the petitioners that since NEET is meant only for getting admissions to MBBS and BDS courses for which the petitioners were not aspiring, the petitioners also appeared in Gujarat Common Entrance Test (GUJCET), which was compulsory up till now for students aspiring to get admissions to various courses in all the professional disciplines including Ayurveda and Homeopathy in which the petitioners intend to pursue their career. It is further stated that till last year, the minimum eligibility criteria for getting admissions to courses in Ayurveda (BAMS) was that the students should have got 50% marks in qualifying examination, i.e. 12th Standard Examination and that students should have only appeared in GUJCET without there being any further requirement of securing any minimum percentage of marks in GUJCET. Similarly, till last year minimum criteria for getting admission to courses in Homeopathy was that the students should have only passed qualifying examination and that the students should have only appeared in GUJCET without there being any further requirement of securing any minimum percentage of marks in GUJCET.

2.3. It is further stated that for the current academic year, i.e. 2017-2018, GUJCET is confined only for admissions to courses in Engineering and Pharmacy. The same is not made applicable for the courses of BAMS and BHMS.

2.4. The grievance of the petitioners is that by way of the impugned Rules, the eligibility criteria for admissions is changed and as per the new criteria, a candidate who desires admissions in MBBS, BDS, BAMS, BHMS, BNAT shall have qualified in NEET conducted for the current academic year. It is further provided in the Rules that no candidate shall be admitted in the Professional Medical Educational Courses unless he fulfills the eligibility criteria including the minimum qualifying percentage/percentile. It is stated that for getting admissions in BAMS, minimum 50% marks is required in qualifying examination and 50 percentil