NEET-PG 2021: SC Pulls Up MCC Over 1450 Vacant Seats, Reserves Orders In Batch Petitions

NEW DELHI:  The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on a batch of petitions seeking a special stray round of counselling to fill the 1,456 seats in NEET-PG-21 which have remained vacant after the conduct of a stray round of counselling for All India Quota.

A bench of Justices M R Shah and Aniruddha Bose said it would pronounce its order on Friday after the counsel for the parties completed their arguments.

The Supreme Court earlier pulled up Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) for leaving more than 1450 seats vacant in NEET-PG-21, saying it will not only put the aspirants in difficulty but would also lead to a dearth of doctors.

The apex court gave 24-hours to the Centre and the MCC to file an affidavit indicating the position of total seats which have remained vacant and the reasons as to why they were not filled up by the candidates. 

Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh, appearing for the Centre, submitted that classes have already started in February and now holding up classes for another six to eight months is not feasible.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) had informed the top court on Wednesday that it has concluded four rounds of online counselling for NEET-PG-21 and it cannot fill 1,456 seats by conducting a special stray round of counselling as the software stands closed.

The batch of petitions has been filed by doctors who appeared in NEET-PG 2021-22 examination and participated in Rounds 1 and 2 of the All India Quota (AIQ) Counselling and State Quota Counselling which was followed by All India Mop-Up and State Mop-Up Rounds and concluded on May 7 by Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) post the All India Stray Vacancy Round. (With inputs from NDTV)

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