NEET PG 2021-22: Supreme Court cancels AIQ mop-up round counselling; orders fresh round of mop-up

The Supreme Court on Thursday cancelled the mop up round counselling held for All India Quota (AIQ) of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) post graduate courses for the year 2021-22 and ordered a fresh mop-up round..A Bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Surya Kant and Bela M Trivedi also ordered a special round of counselling for 146 extra seats added to the pool.Candidates who have joined in State quota or AIQ in round 2 will be eligible to participate in a special round of counselling without forfeiture of security deposit and avail the benefit of extra 146 seats, the Court said.The Court issued the following directions:- The AIQ mop up counselling shall stand cancelled;- For the 146 additional seats which became available after AIQ round 2 on 16 March 2022, a fresh round of counseling shall be conducted as a special case;- Students who have joined in round 2 either of the State quota or of the AIQ, will be at liberty to participate in the fresh round of counseling without any financial penalties;- In order to facilitate the expeditious completion of the process, the Director General of Health Services shall invite options from students for the 146 new seats within twenty-four hours of the uploading of the notification and the process shall be completed within a period of seventy-two hours after the cut of for receipt of options;- A fresh mop-up round for AIQ seats shall be conducted and an endeavour shall be made to complete the process within a period of two weeks; and- In line with the regulations which have been notified on April 5, 2018, students who have joined in round 2 of the state quota or round 2 of the AIQ shall not be eligible to participate in the mop-up round for All India Quota..The Court was hearing a petition seeking by a group of doctors seeking to participate in the mop-up round of NEET-PG 2021-22 counselling.The petitioners who were already allotted seats in the second round of counselling, had challenged the Medical Counselling Committee’s March 16 advisory restraining their participation in the mop-up round if a candidate has already picked up seats in State quota.Their contention was that around 146 seats were subsequently added as a consequence of which people lower in rank than the petitioners would get better disciplines..[Read Order]