The Supreme Court of India has once again affirmed that students who secure admission in All India Quota (AIQ) seats for postgraduate medical courses cannot withdraw from these seats after the second round of counselling conducted under the National Entrance-cum-Eligibility Test (NEET). The Court cited a previous order issued in May 2017 in the case of Dar-Us-Slam Educational Trust v. Medical Council of India, emphasizing the importance of maintaining the integrity of the counselling and admission process.
A bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, alongside Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, addressed a writ petition filed by a student who had initially been allocated a PG medical seat under the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) quota.
The petitioner had secured admission to a three-year postgraduate medical degree program during the second round of counselling in the NRI quota on February 24, 2022. However, the student decided to withdraw from the allocated seat on March 26, 2022. Subsequent counselling rounds were conducted on April 22, 2022, and May 7, 2022, but the seat remained vacant.
The Court noted that the student's decision to withdraw had resulted in an empty seat, depriving another deserving candidate of the opportunity. In light of this outcome, the Court refused to provide any relief to the petitioner.
The Court's decision was based on the principles outlined in the earlier Dar-Us-Slam Educational Trust case. The Court had previously ruled that students admitted to AIQ seats should not be allowed to relinquish them after the second round of counselling. This rule was put in place to ensure that a limited number of seats would return to the State Quota, while the AIQ seats would be filled solely by students from the All India merit list. Additionally, students securing admission in Deemed Universities following the second round of counselling conducted by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) would not be eligible to participate in any other counselling sessions.
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