Pinnacle court reserves order on pleas seeking special stray round of counselling for NEET-PG

Additional lawman Balbir Singh submits classes have already started in February and now holding classes for an additional six to eight months isn't feasible

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'd pronounce its order on Friday after the counsel for the parties completed their arguments.

Additional lawman Balbir Singh, appearing for the Centre, submitted that classes have already started in February and now holding classes for an additional six to eight months isn't feasible.

He said the NEET 2022 teaching also will be compromised if further rounds of counselling are conducted.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) had informed the highest court on Wednesday that it's 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 because the software stands closed.

The batch of petitions has been filed by doctors who appeared in NEET-PG 2021-22 examination and took part in Rounds 1 and a pair of 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.

One of the petitions filed by Dr Astha Goel et al. through advocate Tanvi Dubey said on April 18, vide a notification, the MCC declared that there existed 323 vacant seats in UG Counselling and so as to form sure that these precious seats don't attend waste, they'd be conducting a Special Stray Round for the identical.

The plea said it's pertinent to say here that this can be a practice that has been followed by the MCC previously wherein Special Stray Rounds for UG and PG are conducted so as to make sure that seats don't go vacant.

However, this wasn't followed this year.