Petitioners Allege Violation of Court Orders, Demand Fresh Counselling
New Delhi, February 5: The Supreme Court on Tuesday sought a response from the central government on a plea demanding the cancellation of the third round of All India Quota (AIQ) counselling for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test for Postgraduates (NEET-PG).
The petition, filed by around 50 candidates, argues that the third round of AIQ counselling was conducted prematurely, before the completion of State Round II counselling, thereby violating previous Supreme Court directives. The petitioners have demanded fresh counselling to rectify the alleged irregularities.
Allegations of Unfair Advantage
The petitioners contend that certain candidates were given an unfair advantage in the initial rounds, which deprived other aspirants of seats that should have been available to them.
“It is submitted that the act of the Respondent in commencing Round III of AIQ counselling before the State Round of counselling for all the states concluded is in clear violation of this Hon’ble Court’s order in Ashish Ranjan (supra). Evidently, there was no permission sought by the Respondents from this Hon’ble Court seeking deviation from the Ashish Ranjan timeline and procedure of counselling,” the plea states.
SC Issues Notice to MCC, Seeks Explanation
After reviewing the arguments presented in the petition, a Bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran issued a notice to the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) under the Union Health Ministry, seeking its response.
The petitioners have accused the MCC of arbitrarily allowing certain state candidates to participate in AIQ Round III counselling before the completion of their State Round II counselling. This, they argue, blocked available seats and deprived others of a fair chance.
The plea insists that MCC should have waited for all states to conclude Round II counselling before proceeding with AIQ Round III, as per previous Supreme Court rulings.
The court is now awaiting the Centre’s response, which could determine whether the third round of NEET-PG AIQ counselling will be scrapped and redone.