'My argument was straightforward: If the Constitution allows this reservation and SC/ST and OBC candidates are already getting reservation in private institutions -- backed by Constitution Bench orders -- then not extending the same to EWS candidates directly violates the 103rd Amendment and Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality.'
Atharva Chaturvedi was just another boy from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh -- a boy who wanted to become a doctor, he had finished Class 12, cleared NEET twice, scored 530 out of 720 and had an economically weaker sections (EWS) rank of 164.
He had passed the exam twice -- in 2024-2025 and then again in 2025-2026.
According to Atharva, Madhya Pradesh amended its reservation rules in 2022, limiting the EWS quota only to government colleges, effectively shutting out eligible candidates from private medical institutions.
The high court ordered the state to remedy this within a year. The system didn't move. So Atharva did.
Key Points
- 'Reservation as a tool should be time-bound and re-evaluated at different stages.'
- 'If citizens make the effort to read and understand the Constitution, they can know what their rights are and they can know how to fight for them. That is not as difficult as it sounds. People just have to try.'
- 'I was confident that if I cleared NEET again under EWS, I should be getting admission. But there was always that uncertainty hanging over whether the system would actually deliver.'
- "='Once I get admission, my only aim is to be a doctor -- a worthy doctor.'
Watching Supreme Court hearings online during the Covid lockdown had Atharva Chaturvedi a feel for courtroom procedure that most teenagers never get.
His father, Manoj Chaturvedi, an advocate, explained Constitutional language to him in Hindi.
Atharva read the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, studied the landmark Janhit Abhiyan versus Union of India Constitution Bench judgment (external link), downloaded the Special Leave Petition format from the Supreme Court web site, drafted his own petition and filed it online on January 6, 2026, from Jabalpur -- all to save the cost of travelling to Delhi.
On February 10, as a bench led by Chief Justice Surya Kant was about to rise for the day, Atharva asked for 10 minutes to plead his case. The judges agreed.
After he finished arguing his position, the court invoked Article 142 and directed the National Medical Commission and the state government to ensure his provisional MBBS admission within seven days.
Nineteen-year-old Atharva, who wants to become a doctor, is now also well-versed with the nuances of the Constitution.
In this interview with Prasanna D Zore/Rediff, Atharva speaks about how he argued this case personally (from home via video conferencing), why he knocked on the doors of India's apex court, why the EWS reservation is being quietly ignored across the country and why his aim, despite all this, remains simply to become a doctor.
'That gap became a convenient excuse for non-compliance'
You argued your own case in the Supreme Court at 19. Your father is also an advocate. What made you decide to represent yourself rather than hiring a lawyer?
Since I have faced this injustice personally, I thought it would be better if I represent myself before the Supreme Court. I can point out the issues more clearly -- what we as students are actually going through.
A lawyer would present it from the outside. I was living it.
How did you prepare? Did you go through what the Constitution and the laws actually say about EWS reservation?
Yes. I first read the 103rd Amendment, which deals with EWS reservation. Then I read several Constitution Bench judgments -- those dealing with SC/ST reservation and then those specifically about EWS. From all of those, I compiled my arguments and put them together.
The judgment that really cleared most of my doubts was Janhit Abhiyan versus the Union of India given by the Constitution Bench that upheld the 103rd Amendment in 2022. I made a summary of that judgment and, on that basis I prepared my SLP (Special Leave Petition) before the Supreme Court.
Can you explain, in simple terms, what the 103rd Amendment is and which Constitutional provisions you relied on?
When the 103rd Amendment was passed in 2019, a new clause -- Article 15(6) -- was inserted into the Constitution.
Now, Article 15 already provides for reservation for SC/ST communities under Clauses 4 and 5. With 15(6), the same protection is extended to the economically weaker section, with a maximum ceiling of 10 per cent.
Importantly, that clause specifically says private institutions can also be included.
My argument was straightforward: If the Constitution allows this reservation and SC/ST and OBC candidates are already getting reservation in private institutions -- backed by Constitution Bench orders -- then not extending the same to EWS candidates directly violates the 103rd Amendment and Article 14, which guarantees the right to equality.
Article 16(6), also inserted through the same amendment, deals with appointments and promotions in jobs -- I found that relevant too.
What was the actual administrative failure that denied you admission despite qualifying under EWS?
When EWS reservation was implemented in 2019, a two-year window was given to institutions to enhance their seats accordingly. In that period, no one actually made the effort. That gap became a convenient excuse for non-compliance.
Then, in 2022, the state of Madhya Pradesh specifically amended its rules to say that the EWS reservation would apply only to government colleges and not to private ones.
That amendment directly barred all EWS candidates from getting reservation in private institutions and that is what I challenged.
The importance of Article 142
The Supreme Court used Article 142 to grant you relief. What does that tell us about the role of that provision in delivering real justice?
Article 142, as I understand it, exists to meet the ends of justice in situations where normal procedure falls short. In my case, the counselling process had already ended.
My first petition before the high court had led to an order directing every private medical college in Madhya Pradesh to provide EWS reservation within a year.
I appeared for NEET again the following year but that order had still not been complied with. I filed another writ petition -- it was dismissed. The Supreme Court was the only option I had left.
Now, the court could have exercised its power under Article 136 but there had been two dismissals already and since the counselling had closed, granting relief risked procedural complications.
So the court used Article 142 instead because it noticed that there were procedural irregularities in the counselling process itself and those irregularities cannot be used as a reason to deny a student their admission. That is where Article 142 stepped in.
How did you manage to understand complex legal concepts -- reservation policy, constitutional intent, judicial precedent -- while simultaneously preparing for NEET?
Honestly, the reading part is not as difficult as it looks. My father explained the Constitutional language to me in Hindi so that barrier came down quickly. And if you actually read the Janhit Abhiyan judgment, the language the Supreme Court uses is plain English. It is not a complex judgment at all. The issues are clearly laid out.
The reasoning of the judges is explained. Why these policies need to exist is explained.
Once I read it, I prepared my own arguments. And those judgments also record the submissions made by the opposing counsel -- so I used those to anticipate what the other side might argue and then built my counter-arguments around that.
As for managing NEET alongside all of this -- I studied for NEET during the day, nine to ten hours, normal preparation. At night I would go through the judgments and the amendments. That was my routine.
'No clear deadline built into the EWS framework'
Do you think the EWS framework is being uniformly implemented across states? And would you like to see any reforms?
Not at all. If you look at any state in the country, EWS reservation is not being implemented in private institutions. Madhya Pradesh has a high court order, but even that is to be fully implemented.
There is no state where the EWS reservation is actually working in private colleges the way the Constitution intended.
The scale of the violation is serious. In Chhattisgarh, for instance, EWS reservation exists at only four per cent instead of the Constitutionally mandated 10 per cent. And there are states where it does not even exist in government colleges.
As far as reforms are concerned -- I do think there should be a clear deadline built into the EWS framework. It was introduced in 2019 and, at some point, the reservation should be incrementally reduced so that it does not continue indefinitely without review.
Reservation as a tool should be time-bound and re-evaluated at different stages.
After going through all of this, how has your understanding of the Constitution changed?
What strikes me most is how carefully every word in the Constitution has been chosen.
When the Constitution uses the word 'shall,' that single word becomes the subject of legal debate -- people argue for it, people argue against it. The language is very compressed but each word carries enormous weight.
What I would say is that if citizens make the effort to read and understand the Constitution, they can know what their rights are and they can know how to fight for them. That is not as difficult as it sounds. People just have to try.
'If the effort is there, the result will come'
You cleared NEET in 2024-2025 and then again in 2025-2026. How did your scores and ranks compare across both attempts?
In 2024-20-25, my EWS category rank for private institutions was 134. In 2025-2026, my EWS rank for private college was 164 but that is against a cutoff of 237, so it was a qualifying rank. The score itself was 530, which I held across attempts.
I was confident that if I cleared NEET again under EWS, I should be getting admission. But there was always that uncertainty hanging over whether the system would actually deliver.
Any helpful tips for students preparing for NEET?
For biology, read NCERT thoroughly. At least 95 per cent of biology in NEET comes directly from that book. Just learning the NCERT well is more than sufficient.
For physics and physical chemistry, numericals are the core. If you have practised numericals properly, you will perform well in both.
For organic chemistry, compile all your reactions into one or two pages and read through them every day. That habit alone helps a great deal.
Now that the Supreme Court has granted you relief, what next? Will you pursue law alongside medicine?
The college is yet to be decided -- the court has directed the state and the National Medical Council to handle that so it is not in my hands right now. Once I get admission, my only aim is to be a doctor -- a worthy doctor.
The legal journey was what it had to be; even now, reading judgments in my free time is something I enjoy. But medicine is where I am going. That will not change.
What is your message to India's youth?
When I was preparing my arguments, I came across a quote that stayed with me throughout: There are decades where nothing happens and then there are weeks where decades happen. That kept me going -- to work harder, to be patient and to trust that if the effort is there, the result will come.
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