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SC gives last chance to fill vacant MBBS seats before Dec 30 deadline
The decision came in response to a series of petitions filed by private medical colleges, which reported facing significant financial hardship due to one or two vacant MBBS seats this year
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed one last chance to fill vacant bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBBS) seats nationwide, directing that a special stray round of counselling be concluded by December 30. However, those who have already secured admission will not be eligible to participate.
The decision came in response to a series of petitions filed by private medical colleges, which reported facing significant financial hardship due to one or two vacant MBBS seats this year.
The last round of counselling ended on November 30, and the colleges sought a special stray vacancy counselling as a one-time measure to ensure the seats go to meritorious candidates next in line based on the NEET-UG 2024 results.
A bench led by Justice Bhushan R. Gavai passed the order after being informed by the National Medical Commission (NMC) that there were still vacant MBBS seats across the country.
Senior advocate Gaurav Sharma, appearing for the MCC, said that five rounds of counselling, as prescribed by the court, had concluded. He suggested that an additional round could fill the vacant seats within five to six days.
The bench, also comprising Justice K.V. Viswanathan, added that “the admission authorities are, therefore, directed to hold a fresh stray/special counselling for the seats remaining vacant and complete the admission process prior to December 30 in any event.”
The court emphasised that this was a “last chance” measure, considering the acute shortage of doctors in the country.
The order came with several conditions --- no college would be allowed to admit students directly; all admissions must be conducted through the state admission authorities. The special round of counselling should not disrupt already finalised admissions. Only waiting list candidates will be considered for admission, and those who have already accepted seats cannot opt for another college or give up their current admission.
Additionally, any vacant non-resident Indian (NRI) seat should be converted into the ‘general category’ quota and filled through state admission authorities.
The petitions, argued by senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Siddharth Dave, and Debashish Bharuka, highlighted the substantial financial loss the colleges would incur due to the vacant seats.
They argued that the vacancy arose on the last date of counselling, November 30, because of refusals or non-joining of candidates.
The bench also said that the NMC had filed an application requesting an extension of the admission deadline. This request became irrelevant since it had originally sought an extension until December 5.
Sharma told the court that a concession could be granted as a “one-time measure,” but it should not set a precedent, as it could delay the admission process every year.
The NMC did not provide specific details on the total number of vacant MBBS seats across the country.
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The petitioner colleges had first approached the Centre and the NMC, seeking an extension of the deadline. After receiving no response, they approached the Supreme Court for relief.
The schedule for filling MBBS admissions is governed by an order passed by the Supreme Court on January 18, 2016, and the court has periodically allowed relaxations to this schedule.
In October 2023, the Supreme Court had permitted a stray round of counselling after being informed that 2,182 MBBS seats were vacant across all states. At that time, the court emphasised the public interest in filling these seats and granted an additional two-week period to do so.
