The Supreme Court has requested the central government’s response to a plea seeking the cancellation of the third round of All India Quota counselling for NEET-PG admissions.
The petition, filed by around 50 candidates, calls for the counselling process to be restarted.
Allegations of Unfair Advantage
The petitioners have raised concerns that during the initial rounds of counselling, certain candidates were granted unfair advantages, which resulted in other candidates losing out on seats that they could have otherwise secured.
According to the plea
“Commencing Round III of AIQ counselling before all states have concluded their Round II violates the Supreme Court’s order in the Ashish Ranjan case. The Respondents did not seek permission from the Court to deviate from the established counselling timeline and procedures.”
Supreme Court Issues Notice to Health Ministry
After considering the petition, a bench comprising Justices B R Gavai and K Vinod Chandran issued a notice to the Union Health Ministry’s Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), asking them to respond to the allegations raised in the plea.
Contentions Raised by Petitioners
The petitioners argue that candidates from certain states were allowed to participate in the AIQ Round III before completing their State Round II.
They contend that this situation created a disadvantage for other candidates, as the seats were effectively blocked by candidates from State Round II, preventing them from participating in Round III.
The petition also highlights the MCC’s responsibility to wait for all states to conclude Round II before proceeding with the AIQ counselling process.
The outcome of this petition could result in a revocation of Round 3 of the NEET-PG AIQ counselling, potentially leading to a fresh counselling process for candidates.
