New Delhi: The Supreme Court Division bench on Monday denied extending the interim relief granted to the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) NEET candidates and denied to allow them for participating in the general category of NEET counselling for the academic year of 2022-2023.
Such a decision was taken by the Apex Court bench comprising of Justices Abdul Nazeer and Vikram Nath after it took note of the fact that the interim relief granted by the court last year was limited only for the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022.
Therefore, rejecting the applications, the bench noted, "While granting interim relief in this matter to the OCI students to be treated at par with Indian Students and allowing them to apply to any course/courses including Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery (BAMS), we have made it clear that the interim relief, granted is confined only to the academic years 2020-2021 and 2021-2022."
"We are not inclined to grant interim relief for the academic year 2022-2023. Hence the prayer for interim relief made in the applications for Interim Relief/Directions is rejected," further noted the bench.
Medical Dialogues had last year reported that the Supreme Court had provided a major interim relief to the Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) NEET candidates by allowing them to participate in the general category of NEET counselling for the academic year of 2021-22.
Also Read: NEET 2021: SC allows OCI Candidates to Appear in General Category Counselling
The interim order was passed in writ petitions of OCI candidates challenging the Ministry of Home Affairs' notification to treat OCI at par with Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) for medical college admissions via NEET.
The plea pointed out that OCIs like petitioners have undergone many years of schooling in India, and their families live and work in India. Despite the same, they are not allowed to compete with the general pool of candidates and are forced to compete for a very small number of seats earmarked for NRIs.
This would mean that they would also have to pay exorbitant admission fees that accompany the NRI quota seats, which they cannot afford unlike NRIs whose families are living and working in the global west and have more access to financial resources, the plea said.
At that time, while providing the interim relief to the OCI NEET candidates, the Supreme Court bench had quashed the notification of the Home Ministry which denied OCI's eligibility for admission under any seats reserved exclusively for Indian Citizens. However, the bench had clearly stated that the order would be valid only for the year 2021-22.
"They are all Indian origin & they are not outsiders. They have sent dollars for our country & they have already undergone. They don't have money like NRI's. Dont you think it looks arbitrary? Give them some time. Legal aspects apart. There is a challenge to the provision itself we'll consider at a later stage. But this is so sudden... I don't know how many of them will pass. You have not made any condition precedent. You have allowed them to participate. You know legitimate expectation again. From all angles, what is the justification like this?Our only objection is that you can take some time to take the decision. We might not have any objection subject to what is stated is that time is taken to apply this. All of a sudden this change, we don't know what their condition is," the bench had noted in that judgment.
"We are of the view that at least for the current academic year 2021-2022, the petitioners are entitled to be considered eligible for all the medical seats which the OCIs were eligible for before the issuance of the impugned notification dated March 4, 2021. Therefore, we direct the NTA to declare the result of the examination taken by the petitioners NEET UG 2021 and the eligible petitioners are permitted to appear for the counselling in the general category. This order is confined to the academic year 2021-2022," the top court bench had clarified earlier.
To view the Supreme Court order, click on the link below.
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