SC reserves order on extension of counseling in PG medical courses

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Thursday reserved its order on the "stray vacancies" issue in connection with postgraduate medical courses in deemed universities across the country.

A vacation bench comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Surya Kant said, "Though we can do it, but should we do it? This will happen every year."

The deemed universities have moved the apex court seeking its intervention in extending the counseling for PG medical seats, which closed on May 31.

The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) termed the plea of the universities "a dangerous application", having major implications on the whole exercise of counseling.

"If the counseling is extended, it would set a bad precedent. It would completely dilute the objective of having cut-off date, and the extension dates will affect all states", contended the DGHS counsel.

The court noted that although it has the power, it has to be exercised with caution.

Senior advocate Maninder Singha, appearing for a society of deemed universities, told the court that it essential to extend the date of counseling for a reasonable period to address the issue, especially for meritorious students.

Earlier, the court had asked counsel for the DGHS to take instructions and "if possible, amicably resolve the disputes. If needed, counselling may have to be extended by a short period of a week or so".

The court's observation came as deemed universities sought directions to extend the deadline, till June 17, for the stray vacancy round for meritorious students who have already qualified the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) and have their names included in the DGHS waiting list.

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