The fate of thousands of medical students who cleared NEET is in the hands of the Supreme Court, with the Maharashtra government and deemed universities in the State engaging in a tug-of-war over who has the right to hold counselling sessions.
With just a few days left before admissions to medical and dental colleges close for the new academic year, a bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and L. Nageswara Rao has to decide whether Maharashtra has the right to conduct centralised counselling. Deemed universities argue that the State government is stepping on their fundamental right to administer their own institutions and hold individual counselling for students.
To make matters worse, several thousand students in the State have already secured admissions to these deemed universities on the basis of individual counselling done by the varsities, and have already started classes. The State government prefers them to be sent back for a combined re-counselling. Both the Maharashtra government and the Centre termed the admissions of these students as provisional.
“These universities say that 85 per cent of their seats have already been filled up. What will happen to all these students who have already started classes?” a concerned Justice Sikri asked the government.
Senior advocate P. Chidambaram, appearing for one of the deemed universities, said the Narendra Fadnavis government was attempting the “undoable task of unscrambling eggs” by trying to cancel their admissions and send them back for combined re-counselling.
“Centralised counselling is absolutely essential after NEET... otherwise the gains of NEET will disappear. Normally, a centralised exam like NEET should follow with centralised counselling. I am not treading on anybody’s authority,” senior advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the Maharashtra government, argued.
The State government had come in appeal against a Bombay High Court order quashing its notification to hold combined counselling for all undergraduate medical and dental students who cleared NEET this year. The Supreme Court in April had revived the 2010 NEET regulations to bring transparency in medical and dental admissions across the country.
Mr. Divan argued that private institutions have a duty to admit meritorious students. He claimed that these universities have admitted students from the bottom of the NEET rank list. “There has been a complete rejection of merit,” he said.
With centralised counselling conducted by the State government authorities, Mr. Divan pointed out, students do not have to attend multiple counselling sessions. It would also save them from paying multiple application fees to several colleges, and would also end the practice of blocking seats.
The Centre, represented by Solicitor-General Ranjit Kumar, submitted that a majority of States, like Maharshtra and Kerala, are in favour of combined counselling. “We want counselling to be centralised all over the country. Centralisation guarantees equality of opportunity,” Mr. Kumar submitted.
He argued that the term ‘admission’ in the NEET regulations include the combined entrance exam and the counselling too. Supporting the Maharashtra notification for centralised counselling, the Solicitor-General argued that even the UGC Regulations reserves the right of admissions in deemed universities with the “bodies authorised by the Centre, States or other other State agencies”.
The hearing will continue on Tuesday.
Earlier this month, the Bombay High Court lifted a stay on admissions to various courses through NEET. It asked the State government to prepare a list of candidates from outside the state, but restrained it from making it public till it has reviewed it.
The court was hearing petitions filed by the Mahatma Gandhi Vidyamandir's Karmaveer Bhausaheb Hiray Dental College and Hospital, a private unaided college, and students from other states challenging the rules denying admissions to applicants from outside Maharastra to these courses.
Many students have secured admissions to these deemed universities
