454 vacant seats after cancellation of AIIMS INI-CET open round counselling: SC expresses concern, refers matter to CJI

New Delhi: Observing that it is "troubling" that 454 postgraduate medical seats have remained vacant as a result of the cancellation of INI-CET open and on-spot counselling, the Supreme Court has now transferred the matter to the bench of Chief Justice for his orders.

Further, the top court bench comprising of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka has clarified that it cannot pass an order contradicting an earlier order passed by another bench which had rejected the application of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) seeking an extension of the counselling period beyond August 31, 2022.

This came after the counsel for AIIMS informed the bench that the reason why open and on-spot rounds of counselling had been cancelled, which ultimately led to 454 vacant PG medical seats in the Institutes of National Importance, was because AIIMS had earlier approached the Supreme Court bench and informed about the various issues and reasons behind the delay of the counselling process. Although the institute had requested the court for an extension of the timeline of the counselling process beyond August 31, 2022, the court did not grant any relief.

The Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET) is for admission to the Post Graduate (PG) courses of certain All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and some other medical institutions. It is a bi-annual computer-based test for admission.

Previously Medical Dialogues reported that through a notice, AIIMS had informed about regarding the further counselling process for INI-CET for admission in MD/MS/DM(06yrs)/M.Ch(06yrs)MDS courses for AIIMS New Delhi & 11 other INIs.

Clarifying that no further round of seat allocation shall be conducted for INI-CET July 2022 session, the notice mentioned, "In continuation of the schedule of online seat allocation and the order of Hon'ble Supreme court of India in Miscellaneous Application No. 1566/2022 in W.P. (C) No. 1329/2021, no further round of seat allocation for INI-CET July-2022 session will be conducted."

This decision came as a huge shock for the residents who were eager to join the Institutes of National Importance.

The upset doctors had approached the Supreme Court seeking relief. Apart from this, referring to the notice issued by AIIMS New Delhi, the doctors under the umbrella of Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA) had also written to the AIIMS director and pointed out more than 50% vacant seats in multiple departments of various institutes.

Filing the plea before the Supreme Court, the petitioner has sought directions to the Centre and others, including AIIMS, to organise the remaining rounds of INI-CET counselling without any further delay.

Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan along with lawyer Tanvi Dubey appeared for the petitioners, including three who have completed MBBS.

The plea said the September 19 notice came as a "surprise" to several candidates who were expecting seats in one of the premier institutes including AIIMS and JIPMER through the open and on-spot round of counselling in INI-CET exam.

Earlier, during the hearing of the case, the Supreme Court had expressed great disappointment after finding that almost 450 seats remain vacant. Granting one week time for filing a counter affidavit, the bench had clarified, "We will take a serious view of this. You have to fill in the seats. Period."

Also Read: 450 Seats Vacant: SC takes serious view of cancellation of AIIMS INI CET counselling

In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the AIIMS said the process of admission through INI-CET was closed on August 31, 2022. It said three of the five petitioners were allocated and offered seats in the second round of counselling.

The affidavit said these three petitioners had taken a "calculated risk" and opted to not take those seats after second round of counselling and persist in looking for other opportunities despite being expected to fill choices for the subjects or disciplines that they genuinely wished to pursue.

"It is humbly submitted that the petitioners, having faced the repercussions of their own poor decision making, cannot now claim an additional round of INI-CET counselling as a matter of right, thereby disrupting the overall process of admissions and negatively impacting patient care activities as a result of the special treatment sought to be meted out to the petitioners," the affidavit was quoted stating by PTI.

The affidavit filed by AIIMS said the petitioners have "sought to mislead" the court by drawing a parallel between INI-CET and NEET examination. It said the next INI-CET took place on November 13, 2022 and the results are scheduled for November 19.

The affidavit said any further rounds of counselling shall not only disturb the results of examination held on November 13, but will also lead to a situation whereby seats already allocated shall have to be thrown open to students who have already joined the course of their choice.

"Such a situation will lead to doctors resigning from departments already assigned to them and the same will have adverse impact on the overall patient care throughout the participating institutions across India," it said.

The affidavit said based on the available data as of August 31 this year, out of total 918 vacancies available before the seat allocation, all 918 came to be filled after first round of counselling.

It said the total number of candidates who reported after first round of counselling was 377, out of which 184 had confirmed the allocated seat and joined while the remaining 193 opted to take a chance to secure a better course or institute in the second round of counselling.

The affidavit said a total of 541 vacancies were reported for the second round of counselling and considering the seats of candidates who opted for upgrade in the second round, total 734 seats were allocated but only 280 candidates reported and joined the courses.

The affidavit said the AIIMS, anticipating the fact that further vacancies are likely to arise, had preferred an application before the court seeking permission for extension of time from August 31 to October 31, 2022.

It said the apex court, after taking an overall view of the matter, was pleased to dismiss the application on September 16. Terming the plea as "not maintainable", the affidavit said two of the five petitioners had not participated in INI-CET and have no locus to file the petition.

As per the latest media report by Live Law, the counsel for AIIMS further informed the court about the earlier order through which the top court had denied granting any relief regarding the extension of timeline of the counselling process beyond August 31, 2022. It was further pointed out by the AIIMS counsel that by filing the plea and seeking to fill the vacant seats from July 2022 session, the petitioners are actually seeking a review of that earlier order passed by the Supreme Court.

On the other hand, the counsel for the petitioners Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan submitted that the factual situation of the present plea was totally different and the court while passing the earlier order denying to extend the counselling timeline, was not aware of the various relevant factors in the matter. He also referred to the fact that the application seeking an extension of timeline contradicted the counter affidavit that has been filed by AIIMS in the present plea.

Earlier, Advocate Gopal Shankarnarayan had argued that AIIMS and other respondents have constantly violated the guidelines passed by the Supreme Court in the case of Ashis Ranjan vs. Union of India (2016). He said, "I am not at all in favour of the fact that the authorities continue to violate the Ashish Ranjan guidelines year after year and then suddenly wake up and ask for extension."

Taking note of these submissions, the bench orally observed "What is troubling us is that stopping of the open round has resulted in 454 seats being vacant." 

In this regard, the bench also questioned, "We feel seats should not go vacant. How do we get out of this?"

Responding to this, AIIMS and other respondents answered, "We add the vacant seats to next year, my lords."