SC Dismisses Plea Against Institutional Preference in AIIMS PG Admissions

Refusing to intervene in the ongoing admission policy, the Supreme Court recently dismissed a writ petition challenging the alleged practice of granting more than 50 per cent postgraduate medical seats through institutional preference in AIIMS and other Institutes of National Importance.

A bench of Justices P S Narasimha and Alok Aradhe said it was not inclined to entertain the plea under Article 32 of the Constitution, though it kept the larger legal question open for consideration in a future case, according to Live Law.

The petition was filed by a postgraduate medical aspirant who claimed that candidates with lower ranks secured seats in INI-CET counselling due to institutional preference. She argued that All India Institute of Medical Sciences was effectively implementing “institutional reservation” instead of “institutional preference,” contrary to earlier Supreme Court judgments. AIIMS, however, denied the allegations and stated that the petitioner failed to secure a seat because she had chosen only limited subject-institute combinations. The institute clarified that institutional preference is capped within Supreme Court-approved limits and varies across disciplines through a roster system, while remaining below 50 per cent of unreserved seats at each institution.