Supreme court to hear plea on 1,140 vacant NEET PG seats

New Delhi: Amid concerns that hundreds of postgraduate medical seats may go to waste despite multiple counselling rounds, the Supreme Court of India is set to hear an urgent petition today seeking immediate steps to fill the remaining NEET PG seats for the 2025-26 academic session.

The petition, filed by Dhruv Chauhan, National Spokesperson, Indian Medical Association Junior Doctors' Network (IMA-JDN) and others, highlighted that as many as 1,140 postgraduate medical seats are still lying vacant across the country even after all counselling rounds have been completed.

The case (W.P. (C) No. 559/2026) will be heard on April 29, 2026, by a Bench of Justices P. S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe. The respondents include the Union of India, the Directorate General of Health Services, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBE), the National Medical Commission (NMC), and the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC)

Appearing for the petitioners, Advocate-on-Record Ms Neema, along with counsel Satyam Singh Rajput, argued that the refusal of authorities to conduct one final Special Stray Vacancy Round is causing irreversible loss to India’s medical education system.

Also read- Doctors raise concerns as NEET PG vacancies persist despite seat expansion

Medical Dialogues had reported that the Union Government, on March 17, 2026, informed the Rajya Sabha that a total of 1,140 postgraduate (PG) medical seats remained vacant across government and private medical colleges after the first round of the National Eligibility and Entrance Test-Postgraduate (NEET PG) counselling for the academic year 2025.

This comes at a time when the government has approved 43 new medical colleges and added 11,682 MBBS seats and 8,967 postgraduate seats for the 2025–26 academic year. However, doctors have raised concerns over the expansion, questioning why existing seats remain unfilled.

According to the plea, authorities, including the National Medical Commission and the Directorate General of Health Services, have not conducted a final institutional-level Special Stray Vacancy Round, which could allow eligible NEET-PG candidates to compete for these leftover seats.

It further pointed out that the refusal to hold a Special Stray Vacancy Round is arbitrary, especially when the authorities have already reduced the qualifying percentile cut-off with the stated aim of ensuring that maximum seats get filled, reports Law Chakra

The petitioners have therefore requested the Supreme Court to issue a Writ of Mandamus directing the NMC and DGHS to immediately conduct an institutional Special Stray Vacancy Round. They argue that this step is essential for ensuring that deserving candidates get fair opportunities and that India’s medical education capacity is used to its fullest.

Explaining the reason behind the petition, Dr Dhruv told Medical Dialogues, "A huge number of aspirant doctors spoke to me asking why this time NEET PG special round is not conducted like last year. For the same, I filed a petition in the Hon'ble Supreme Court requesting the conduct of vacant 1140 seats as they are valuable assets of our country. We hope justice prevails and have faith in the judiciary."

Previously, the Postgraduate Medical Education Board (PGMEB) of the National Medical Commission (NMC) specified that no Special Stray Vacancy Round shall be conducted for NEET PG 2025. The PG Board of the Apex Medical Commission further stated that admissions made beyond the stipulated last date i.e., February 28, 2026 shall not be considered as valid. It confirmed that no such Special Stray Round of counselling shall be conducted as the matter has attained finality in view of the dismissal of Writ Petition(s) (Civil) No(s). 344/2026 and Special Leave to Appeal (C) No(s). 10590/2026 by the Hon’ble Supreme Court.

The notice stated that the issue had attained finality following dismissal of a plea before the Supreme Court seeking admission of 13 candidates by extending the last date of admission to PG seats in Rajasthan. While the Court had permitted the petitioners to file representations before the Central Government, the competent authority did not accept those representations.

The notice further stated that the Supreme Court, in Ashish Ranjan v. Union of India, had approved the NEET-PG 2025 counselling schedule on March 23, 2026, confirming February 28, 2026 as the final deadline for admissions. It clarified that any admission made in violation of the schedule prescribed by the Medical Counselling Committee under the Directorate General of Health Services would be treated as unauthorised and liable for cancellation.

Taking note of this, the Supreme Court had earlier declined a plea seeking a Round 5 or Special Stray Vacancy Round under the All-India Quota for NEET-PG MD/MS/DNB-2025 after completion of the stray vacancy round in April, 2026. 

Also read- NEET PG 2025: Supreme Court junks plea seeking special stray vacancy round