NEET PG Mop-Up Round: MCC's guideline challenged in Supreme Court

Doctors have challenged the Medical Counselling Committee's (MCC) rule that bars participation of doctors in the NEET PG Mop-Up Round if the candidate has picked up a seat in the State Quota Round 2 counselling.

A doctors' group has filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court challenging the March 16 notice of Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) which says that if a NEET PG candidate has picked up a seat in the State Quota Round 2 counselling, they cannot participate in the NEET PG Mop-Up Round. The petition was mentioned today before a bench led by Justice Chandrachud for urgent listing.

Justice Chandrachud has said that the bench was considering hearing another petition tomorrow seeking participation in the mop-up round and agreed to hear the present matter along with it.

Petitioners argue that MCC's guideline is illegal

The petitioners have argued in the court that the MCC's notice of March 16 is unconstitutional and illegal because the State Quota Counselling Rules expressly permit candidates to cancel/surrender/resign from their allotted seats (with or without forfeiture) so that they can participate in any other round if they are so advised, as reported by Live Law.

The petitioners have raised certain questions that why was the impugned notice issued on March 16 almost a month after the results of AIQ Round 2 which were announced on February 18, and why the candidate who cancelled his/her allotted Round 2 State Quota Counselling in anticipation of participating in AIQ NEET PG mop-up round made to suffer for no faults of theirs?

Read more:

• Reducing NEET PG counselling 2021 percentile not likely to compromise merit: Petitioners in Delhi HC
• NEET PG 2021 Mop-up round: Results to be released tomorrow, March 23