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Alapati Jyotsna & Others v. Union of India & Others

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2020 INSC 406Decided 26 May 2020
Writ Petition (Civil) Diary No. 11011 of 2020
Justice Uday Umesh Lalit · Justice Dinesh Maheshwari

Background

Four NEET-PG 2020 candidates who did not secure their preferred Degree/Diploma seats complained that the Diplomate of National Board (DNB) seats were allotted through a separate, later counselling process, so candidates who accepted an MD/MS/Diploma seat lost any chance of later competing for DNB seats, and vice versa. They asked the Court to direct a single combined counselling process for both streams.

Decision Breakdown

The Court noted that by the time the matter was heard, the main round of All India Quota counselling for 2020 was already largely complete, with thousands of candidates having joined allotted colleges, so unwinding the process would cause chaos. It also recorded that both the Medical Council of India and the National Board of Examinations had themselves accepted, "in principle," that a combined online counselling for MD/MS, Diploma and DNB seats would be fairer and should be introduced going forward. Balancing these factors, the Court declined to grant any relief for the ongoing 2020 admission cycle but expressed hope that the authorities would implement a common counselling process from the next academic session (NEET-PG 2021) onward, and disposed of the petition on that basis.

Lesson Learnt

Courts are often reluctant to disturb an administrative process (like exam counselling) that is already at an advanced stage, even when the underlying structural complaint has real merit: relief in such cases is more likely to be prospective reform for future cycles than a reopening of the current one.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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