Why MBBS seats under ‘freedom fighter’quota, 79 years after independence? With Fake Certificates, An Adoption Claim & One Beneficiary Born In 2008, The Question Is No Longer JustWho Qualifies But How Long The Quota Can Continue | Vyapam Whistleblower Seeks A Six-Year Audit
P.Naveen@timesofindia.com 10.10.2026 TOI BHOPAL
Bhopal: Seventy-nine years after Independence, Madhya Pradesh’s 3% freedom fighter quota for medical admissions is under scrutiny. Seven certificates were reportedly found fake during the 2025 MBBS/BDS counselling, and the admissions were cancelled. The admission rules provide for eligible sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters of recognised freedom fighters, subject to prescribed documentation. The freedom fighter must be registered in the Collectorate concerned, and the prescribed certificate has to be issued by the competent authority. The provisions available do not expressly extend the benefit to great-grandchildren or later generations. Yet one beneficiary’s date of birth is listed as 2008, 61 years after Independence. Age alone does not establish ineligibility or wrongdoing, but the case has brought the verification process under the scanner.
Of the seven certificates found fake among candidates admitted in the first round of counselling, six were for MBBS and one for BDS. The category had 66 seats, of which 36 were allotted and 22 candidates took admission. Authorities also sought verification of other certificates after a suspicious document surfaced. The issue has also reached the criminal justice system. Shivpuri police registered an FIR on Dec 31, 2025, after a freedom fighter certificate submitted during the first round of NEETUG 2025-26 counselling came under scrutiny.
The aspirant had sought admission under the category at Rajmata Vijayaraje Scindia Medical College, Shivpuri. The college sought verification from the Collector, Chhatarpur, and the FIR alleges that the certificate was fake. The case has been registered under sections 318(4), 338, 336(3) and 340(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. In another instance, a student has secured an MBBS seat by claiming his father had been ‘adopted’ by a freedom fighter. The certificate was reportedly verified by Gwalior authorities. However, the available provisions do not expressly clarify whether a candidate can claim the benefit through an adopted parent or whether a biological relationship is required.
The question is whether a legally valid adoption makes the candidate a grandson of the freedom fighter for the purposes of the quota. The courts have repeatedly stressed the need for documentary proof of both the freedom fighter’s status and the claimant’s relationship. In Krati vs State of Madhya Pradesh, MP high court had rejected a claim based on a grandfather after finding that the material produced did not establish the required Freedom Fighter status and that the prescribed Madhya Pradesh certification was not available. In Kushal Saxena vs State of Madhya Pradesh, the court had rejected a claim based on a grandfather registered as a freedom fighter in Uttar Pradesh, even though the candidate himself was a resident of MP.
The cases show that residence, a claimed family relationship or a certificate from another authority cannot by themselves establish entitlement to the MP quota. The original freedom fighter record and the prescribed chain of relationship have to satisfy the applicable rules.
Whistleblower seeks six-year audit: Vyapam whistleblower Dr Anand Rai has sought details of certificates and admissions for the past six years, saying the entire system needs to be examined. “How is this possible? Many more would come saying their fathers were adopted by freedom fighters. It’s a scam which needs investigation,” Rai said. He said govt should conduct a comprehensive audit instead of examining cases individually. He has sought district-wise information on freedom fighter certificates and medical admissions, including the candidates who used the certificates, the relationship claimed with the original freedom fighter, certificates rejected during verification, certificates later cancelled and cases referred to police. The data, he said, should be matched with original Collectorate registers, freedom fighter records and pension records. Such a comparison would establish whether the family relationship claimed at the time of admission existed in the original govt records or was added or established later.
The audit could also show whether the adoption-based claim and the 2008 case are isolated instances or whether wider weaknesses exist in the verification system. Govt review: MP’s Director of Medical Education Dr Aruna Kumar said govt was considering the category. “The govt is thinking over the freedom fighters category. A decision will be taken once the current admission season is over,” she said. Asked how these certificates are verified, she said, “We don’t do that; it’s up to the deans to verify it.” Why the age pattern calls for a probe: The numbers alone do not prove wrongdoing, but they raise questions that only a probe can answer, says Dr Anand Rai. A person who took part in the freedom movement by 1947 was most likely born between the 1900s and the 1920s. Their children would typically have been born between the 1930s and the 1960s, and their grandchildren between the 1960s and the 1990s.
A candidate sitting NEET in 2025 is usually 17 to 25 years old, born roughly between 2000 and 2008. On this count, most such candidates would be great-grandchildren, a generation the rules do not expressly cover. A grandchild born around 2008 would require a freedom fighter born in the 1920s, whose child was born in the 1960s or later, and whose own child arrived in the mid-2000s. That chain is possible, but stretched. It cannot be settled by looking at a certificate alone. Only the original Collectorate registers, freedom fighter records, pension files and family documents can show whether each link in the chain existed in the govt’s own records or was added later.
“That is why a probe is needed. It would establish whether the 2008 case is a rare exception, since late fatherhood, large age gaps and adoptions can all produce long generational gaps, or whether claims that look improbable on a generational count have been passing verification year after year. If the probe finds the chains hold, the system is cleared. If it finds gaps, the question of which eligible candidates lost seats follows,” asks Dr Rai.
