NEET-PG Mop Up Round: SC orders status quo on counselling

New Delhi, March 30

The Supreme Court on Wednesday asked the Centre to maintain status quo till Thursday in the mop-up round of NEET-PG 2021-22 counselling as it directed the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) to reconsider the issues involved, including the decision to add 146 new seats.

A Bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud said these 146 seats were not available to the candidates in the previous rounds of counselling and they didn’t get an opportunity to participate in counseling for these seats which have been allocated to students lower in merit than those allotted seats in the rounds one and two.

This needed to be revisited by the DGHS, said the Bench while hearing petitions filed by a group of doctors seeking to participate in mop-up round of NEET-PG 2021-22 counselling.

As the petitioners have also challenged the Medical Counselling Committee’s March 16 notice restraining participation in the mop-up round if a candidate has already picked up seats in state quota, the Bench said non-uniform application of the March 16 notice also needed to be considered.

As a consequence of the March 16 notice, candidates who are allotted seats in rounds one and two in the state quota are prevented from participating in the mop-up counselling for the All India quota, it said, adding prima facie, the notice has not been followed uniformly and this might cast a doubt as to whether allocation of seats in the All India quota in mop-up round is fair.

Asking the Centre to respond on these issues on Thursday, it ordered status quo on the mop-up round counselling till then.

The petitioners contended that notices had been issued by the DGHS bringing into new seats which were not available to them and now students who were below in merit will be getting better seats.

The aggrieved doctors said that they had participated in round one of the counselling and had joined one discipline but were not allowed to upgrade in round two and sought permission to appear in mop-up round.