In WRIT PETITION (C) NO. 409 OF 2022-SC- Decision of Union Govt & Medical Counselling Committee to not have Special Stray Round of counselling is in interest of Medical Education, says Top Court while rejecting plea for conducting said counselling for NEET-PG-2021 Justices M.R.Shah & Aniruddha Bose [10-06-2022]

Read Judgment:Dr. Astha Goel And Ors Vs. The Medical Counselling Committee & Ors 

Tulip Kanth

New Delhi, June 11, 2022: Confirming the decision of the Union Government and the Medical Counselling Committee to not have Special Stray Round of counselling for filling up the remaining vacant seats of NEET-PG-2021, the Supreme Court has held that the  petitioners-candidates are not entitled to any relief of writ of Mandamus directing the respondents to conduct a Special Stray Round of counselling.

Saying that granting such relief now may affect the medical education and ultimately the public health, the Division Bench of Justice M.R.Shah and Justice Aniruddha Bose said, “… when the current admission of NEET-PG-2021 is already behind time schedule and ever after conducting eight to nine rounds of counselling, still some seats, which are mainly non-clinical courses seats have remained vacant and thereafter when a conscious decision is taken by the Union Government/the Medical Counselling Committee, not to conduct a further Special Stray Round of counselling, it cannot be said that the same is arbitrary.”

The dispute in this case was with respect to the admissions for NEET-PG-2021. Around 40,000 seats were available for NEET-PG examination. 92,000 candidates/ doctors were initially eligible for examination for the said seats. However, subsequently, the percentage was lowered and another 25,000 candidates became eligible. After the results of NEET-PG were announced, four rounds of counselling namely, AIQ Round 1, AIQ Round 2, AIQ Mop-up Round and AIQ Stray Vacancy Round were conducted. Approximately 1456 seats remained vacant after counselling.

The  petitioners, who earlier participated in all the counsellings and could not get the admissions had now approached this Court by way of present writ petitions/special leave petitions praying for Special Stray Round of counselling with respect to the remaining 1456 vacant seats and to allow them to participate for the vacant seats, which were available after the conduct of the Stray vacancy round of AIQ.

Observing that the students couldnot still pray for admission on those seats remaining vacant after approximately one year of academic session and remaining vacant after eight or nine rounds of counselling, the Bench referred to the judgments of the Apex Court in Supreet Batra and Ors. Vs. Union of India and Ors. and Education Promotion Society for India and Anr. Vs. Union of India and Ors.

Clarfiying that the process of admission and that too in the medical education cannot be endless, the Bench put up a mandate saying that the time schedule has to be adhered to, otherwise, it may affect the medical education and the public health.Also, apart from the fact that after closure of the last round of counselling, the entire software mechanism had been closed and the security deposit was refunded to the eligible candidates, the Bench noted that the admission process for NEET-PG-2022 had already begun and as per the time schedule, the counselling process would start in July, 2022. 

Therefore, if one additional Special Stray Round of counselling is conducted now, as prayed, it may affect the admission process for NEET-PG-2022, held the Bench. Considering these aspects, the Top Court dismissed the writ petitions and the special leave petitions.