JUDGMENT

C. Nagappan, C.J. - In this batch of writ petitions, the petitioners herein are the Doctors who have served under the State Government for more than “five years” and they seek to challenge the guidelines framed by the State Government for allotment of candidates for Post Graduate (Medical) Course, 2013 in Odisha, communicated under cover of letter dated 27.5.2013 and further seek to challenge the decision of the State Government to treat the Doctors who have served for “three years” under the “in-service category” for admission into Post Graduate (Medical) Course in the academic year 2013-14.

2. Learned counsel for the petitioners submits that the petitioners after completing of their M.B.B.S. degree registered themselves under the Orissa Medical Council as registered doctors and after they were selected by the Orissa Public Service Commission (OPSC) were appointed as Asst. Surgeons under the service of the State and have all completed five or more years of service under the State. It is stated on behalf of the petitioners that in exercise of the power under Section 33 of the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, the Medical Counsel of India passed a regulation called “Post Graduation (Medical) Education Regulation 2000” which have been amended from time to time and by amendment made by the Notification dated 21.12.2010, the Medical Council of India decided by way of regulation to hold a common National Eligibility cum Entrance examination for admission into the P.G. (Medical) Courses throughout the country each year. Such examination is called as the “National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) for Admission to P.G. (Medical) Courses”. To conduct the aforesaid examination, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) was constituted and such common eligibility test was to be given effect to from the session 2013-14.

3. Pursuant to the aforesaid decision, the National Board of Examinations issued a “information bulletin” requiring eligible candidates to apply for admission into P.G. courses for the year 2013. The said bulletin stipulates the time schedule which requires the submission of application form through online registration between 4th October to 12th November, 2012 and the date of entrance examination was fixed from 23rd November to th December 2012 and declaration of result was to be made by 31st January, 2013. The most important clause in the Information Bulletin issued by the National Board of Examinations for our present purposes is at Clause-IV which is quoted hereunder.

“The reservation of seats in medical colleges/institutions for respective categories shall be as per applicable laws prevailing in States/Union Territories. An all India merit list as well as State-wise merit list of the eligible candidates shall be prepared on the basis of marks obtained in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test and candidates shall be admitted to Post Graduate courses from the said merit lists only.

Provided that in determining the merit of candidates who are in service of Government/public authority, weightage in the marks may be given by the Government/Competent Authority as an incentive at the rate of 10% of the marks obtained for each year of service in remote and/or difficult areas upto the maximum of 30% of the marks obtained in National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test, the remote and difficult areas shall be as defined by State Government/competent authority from time to time.”

4. It is further averred by the petitioners that, the term “as per applicable laws prevailing in States” so far as Orissa is concerned, refers to the policy of the Orissa State Government followed from 1980 till 2012 whereby, the “in-service candidates” have been defined in Clause-6.2.1 of the prospectus for Selection of Candidates for Post-Graduate Courses in the Government Medical Colleges of Odisha-2012 as follows:

“Is in the employment in Government of Odisha and has completed a length of 5 years of service which includes all categories of emp