NEET PG- Karnataka HC Cancels More than 50 Seats Allotted to Ineligible Candidates in Mop-up Round

Bengaluru: In a recent judgment, the Karnataka High Court has cancelled the seats allotted to students ineligible to participate in the mop-up round of the National Eligibility-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) (PG medical/dental) examination.

Holding that Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) violated its own eligibility criteria, the Court acknowledged that the Authority had wrongly allowed candidates who had already secured seats in the All India Quota (AIQ) counselling Round 3 to participate in the State mop-up round, creating irregularities in the admission process.

Clarifying that the seats will be made available in the next round of counselling, the Division bench of the High Court comprising Justices Anu Sivaraman and Vijayakumar A Patil directed the State Government and the National Medical Commission (NMC) to permit such candidates who are allotted seats under the third round of counselling in the All India Quota to join the allotted seats till 5 pm on February 9, 2025, Deccan Herald has reported.

"The KEA is directed not to enforce the penalty clause under clause-16 of the KEA brochure as against the students, who were wrongly permitted to participate in the third round of KEA counseling in violation of the brochure. The KEA shall also take steps to see that the original documents are returned to those candidates to enable them to join the All India Quota seats at the earliest," observed the Court.

Also Read: PG Medical Mop-Up Round Admissions- KEA extends schedule, check dates

Further, the bench held, "In view of the fact that the several seats which were available in the mop-up round of KEA counseling would again fall vacant and would be available in the stray vacancy round, the petitioner and similarly situated candidates, who were eligible to participate in the mop- up round, should be permitted to participate in the stray vacancy round, so that, the seats which have fallen vacant would also be allotted on the basis of merit among the eligible candidates."

The High Court bench has also directed the KEA to take appropriate steps to see if any of the ineligible candidates have joined the colleges after the third round of counselling held by the KEA and directed to refund the fees paid by them at the earliest. It also directed the deemed Universities, which has collected fees from candidates ineligible to participate in the third round of KEA counselling to refund such fees to them.

"The MCC as well as the KEA will inform the candidates who have already been allotted seats in the third round of counseling under the All India Quota and who were permitted to participate in the counselling of the KEA without eligibility that they have to join the seats allotted in the third round of counseling under the All India Quota failing which they will not be entitled any seat in the KEA also. The fact that the time for joining the allotted seats under the All India Quota stands extended till February 9, 2025, shall also be intimated to them at the earliest by e-mail and through intimation in the official website or through SMS on the mobile numbers available so that they are enabled to take appropriate steps," held the Court.

As per the latest media report by Deccan Herald, the plea was filed by NEET PG aspirants who participated in the mop-up round. Approaching the HC bench, they argue that the eligibility conditions mentioned in the KEA brochure specifically provided that the candidates who have not joined the colleges after allotment of seats in the PG Medical/PG Dental first round or second round and would not be allotted any seats in the mop-up round of the All India Counselling including the Counselling for the Deemed Universities (subject to conditions, if any stipulated by the GOI) and the candidates who have not been allotted any seat in State counseling alone would be eligible for participating in the mop-up round of counseling held by the KEA.

While considering the case, the HC bench noted that there was a change in the procedure and the students were permitted to participate in the third round of counselling for the All India Quota seats.

KEA declared the mop-up round results even before the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) Round-3 reporting deadline ended. Due to this premature declaration, there was ambiguity in the final seat matrix which resulted in many ineligible candidates securing admissions.

"However, we notice that there was no change with regard to the conditions with regard to eligibility given in the KEA brochure for participation in the third round of counseling by KEA. If that be the case and the eligibility conditions as provided remains unchanged, then obviously, persons who have been allotted PG Medical seat in the first round or the second round would not be eligible to participate in the mop-up round of the KEA counseling," the bench observed.

Commenting on the matter, the counsel for the petitioners, Advocate Akkamahadevi Hiremath told Edex Live, "The high court ruled that KEA had wrongly allowed more than 50 ineligible candidates — who had already secured seats in the AIQ third round — to participate in the state mop-up round. The court found that KEA acted in haste by starting the mop-up round on January 20, before AIQ counseling was completed. Eligible candidates who were waiting solely for the KEA mop-up round were deprived of their seats."

As per the Daily, the KEA tried to justify its decision by citing changes in the AIQ counselling rules. However, the Court clarified that KEA did not have any authority to override its own brochure without prior notification.

Also Read: KEA Extends NEET PG Mop-Up Round Fee Payment, Reporting Deadline