NEET PG candidates who join seats upto round 2 of AIQ or State quota counselling cannot participate in further rounds under any quota: HC

Srinagar: The High Court of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh at Srinagar recently stated that postgraduate medical candidates who have joined seats in 2nd round of NEET PG Counselling or thereafter either in All India Quota or State Quota can in no circumstances be allowed to participate in further rounds of State Quota or AIQ counselling.

With this observation, the HC bench of Justice Sanjay Dhar on Thursday denied a candidate admission to the MD Anatomy course in Government Medical College, Srinagar under State Quota as she previously joined the course in Government Medical College, Jammu under the All India Quota.

Dismissing the plea, the bench opined, "The simple logic is that once a candidate has joined upto round 2nd of All India Quota or State quota, he/she cannot be permitted to participate in further rounds because if the participation in subsequent rounds is permitted, then it would become an un-ending process."

"Besides this, the admission process to PG courses being time specific, there is every possibility that allowing a candidate to participate in different rounds of counselling in an unfettered manner may result in wastage of seats which would not be in the public interest," the bench further observed.

The petitioner student secured 235 marks in the NEET PG examination and she was allotted a seat in PG Anatomy in GMC Jammu in the 3rd round of counselling conducted by the Medical Counselling Committee for the All India Quota.

Thereafter, she responded to the notice dated 27.09.2023 issued by the J&K Board of Professional Entrance Examination, expressing her willingness to participate in 3rd Mop-up round of counseling against the seats that had remained unfilled during the 3rd round of counselling under the State quota.

However, when the petitioner appeared before BOPEE officials and gave her choice to take up admission in PG Anatomy at GMC Srinagar, she was informed by the officials of BOPEE that she could not be granted admission in PG Anatomy in GMC, Srinagar as she had already been selected in PG Anatomy at GMC, Jammu.

Also Read: NEET PG: Students who take admission under AIQ can't vacate seats after Round 2, says Supreme Court

Challenging this decision, the petitioner candidate approached the Jammu and Kashmir High Court and sought direction upon the authorities to grant her admission to the PG Anatomy course at GMC Srinagar, based on her choice and ranking.

It was contended by the petitioner that there is no Rule, Regulation or Instruction in vogue that would disentitle a person who has been allotted a seat in AIQ in 3rd round of counselling from participating in counselling for allotment of a seat under the State Quota.

On the other hand, the admission authorities argued that the petitioner was allotted the PG Anatomy seat in AIQ 3rd round of counselling on 27.09.2023. It was further submitted that on the basis of the said allotment, the petitioner reported to GMC, Jammu and got herself registered in the College for admission by producing the requisite documents. It was further averred that the petitioner completed all the formalities for admission in GMC Jammu, whereafter she along with other candidates was directed to report for duties with immediate effect. 

It was also submitted that the status of the petitioner as 'joined candidate' up to the 3rd round of PG Counselling, 2023, was also shared by the Medical Counselling Committee in its notice dated 7th October, 2023.

Further referring to Clause 1.5 of Chapter 1 of NEETPG (MD/MS/DNB/MDS) Counselling, 2023, Information Bulletin & Counselling Scheme, issued by Medical Counselling Committee, the authorities contended that the petitioner could not have been allowed to participate in any further rounds of counselling.

Besides, they also pointed out that the petitioner did not resign from her PG Anatomy seat in GMC Jammu and therefore, she could not participate in further counselling. Apart from this, it was also pointed out that as per the schedule issued by the National Medical Commission, 20th October 2023 was the cut-off date for admission to NEET-PG course, 2023 and beyond this date, JK BOPEE cannot fill any seat.

It was also submitted that all the seats in MD Anatomy in all the colleges of the Union Territory have already been allotted to eligible candidates as per merit, choice, and availability.

While considering the matter, the HC bench noted that the core question was whether a candidate whose name figures in the list of 'joined candidates' up to 3rd round of PG counselling in All India Quota is entitled to participate in counselling for admission to Post-graduation under the State quota.

At this outset, the bench perused Clause 1.5 of Chapter 1 of the Information Bulletin & Counselling Scheme for NEEPG (MD/MS/DNB/MDS) Counselling, 2023 which states, "The candidate is now allowed to upgrade seat from second round to 3rd (Mop-up) round. Candidates are advised to take an informed decision of continuing in Third round of AIQ/Deemed/Central Universities. If a candidate joins in 3rd round, they shall not be permitted to resign from 3rd round of AIQ/deemed/Central Universities. They will not be allowed to participate in any further round of counselling after joining the Third round of AIQ."

Referring to this, the HC bench observed, "From a perusal of the aforesaid Clause, it is clear that once a candidate joins in 3rd round of counselling in All India Quota, he/she cannot be allowed to resign from the 3rd round and he/she cannot be allowed to participate in further rounds of counselling after joining in 3rd round of counselling of All India Quota."

The Court also referred to the notice dated 12th July, 2022 issued by the Government of India, Directorate General of Health Services, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. As per this notice, those candidates who have joined upto round 2nd of All India Quota or State quota shall not be eligible to participate in further rounds for All India Quota or State quota from the academic year 2022- 23 onwards.

"This means that if a candidate joins upto round 2nd of All India Quota or State quota, he/she cannot participate in any further rounds under any quota," noted the Court.

The counsel for the petitioner argued that the petitioner was allocated seat in 3rd round of counselling of All India Quota but the aforesaid notice makes a mention about the joining of candidates upto round 2nd of All India Quota only. Therefore, the concerned notice cannot be made applicable to the case of the petitioner. 

At this outset, the bench observed,

"Before dealing with the contention of learned Senior counsel appearing for the petitioner, we have to understand the logic behind issuance of notice of the nature which is under reference. The simple logic is that once a candidate has joined upto round 2nd of All India Quota or State quota, he/she cannot be permitted to participate in further rounds because if the participation in subsequent rounds is permitted, then it would become an un-ending process."

"With the aforesaid logic in mind, we have to interpret notice dated 12th July, 2022. It provides for participation of those candidates in the counselling who have not joined upto 2 nd round, meaning thereby that the candidates who have joined in 2 nd round of counselling or thereafter either in All India Quota or State quota can in no circumstances be allowed to participate in further rounds of counselling in All India Quota or in State quota. The position of the petitioner, who has joined in 3rd round of counselling in All India Quota, is even worse than the candidates who have joined upto 2nd round of counselling. Therefore, she could not have been allowed to participate in the counselling after she had joined in the 3rd round of counselling in All India Quota," it clarified.

The Court further pointed out that the petitioner's name figures in the list of candidates who have joined and the said list was issued by MCC before the 3rd round of counselling scheduled by J&K BOPEE in which the petitioner expressed her willingness to participate.

Addressing the contention claiming that the petitioner did not join the seat before October 25th, 2023, the bench noted,

"It is an admitted case that the petitioner has completed all the formalities pertaining to her admission in GMC, Jammu. She may not have actually attended the duties but that does not mean that she has not joined after the allocation of seat in her favour. Therefore, the consequence of her joining the college after having been allocated the seat in 3rd round of counselling in All India Quota would get attracted to the case of the petitioner."

"Even otherwise, the petitioner could not have participated in 3rd round of counselling conducted by BOPEE without foregoing the seat allotted to her under All India Quota. As per the Information Bulletin & Counselling Scheme issued by Medical Counselling Committee, if a candidate does not join round 3 seat, he may exit with forfeiture of security deposit and elimination. In the instant case, admittedly, the petitioner has not exit nor her security deposit has been forfeited. Therefore, she could not have participated in counselling that was being conducted by JK BOPEE," the bench further observed.

Dismissing the plea, the bench mentioned in the order,

"Apart from the above, the admission to NEET-PG, Session 2023 has closed on 20th October, 2023. Therefore, at this moment of time no direction can be issued upon the respondents to allocate any seat in favour of the petitioner as the same would involve wastage of the seat that has been allocated to her under All India Quota and it would also involve cancellation of admission of a candidate in whose place the petitioner can be accommodated. This would work very harshly against the said candidate besides resulting in wastage of seat in the discipline of Anatomy in GMC, Jammu. On the other hand, no serious prejudice would be caused to the petitioner in case the relief prayed by her is declined because she has already been allocated a seat in the discipline of her choice in GMC, Jammu. Thus, in the instant case there are no exceptional circumstances that would persuade this Court to accede to the prayer made by the petitioner."

To view the order, click on the link below:

https://medicaldialogues.in/pdf_upload/jk-hc-224580.pdf

Also Read: NEET PG: HC Upholds AFMS notification preventing candidates Allotted Seats in MCC 3rd Round from participating in subsequent counselling rounds