SUPREME COURT ALLOWS NEET COUNSELLING FOR PG AND UG ADMISSIONS FOR 2021-22

The Division Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India comprising of Justices Dr Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and AS Bopanna passed an Order dated 07-01-2022 in the case of Neil Aurelio Nunes & Ors v. Union of India & Ors. {Writ Petition (C) No 961 of 2021} and allowed the commencement of counselling process for NEET-PG and NEET-UG for 2021-22 admissions on the basis of the existing 27% quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10% reservation for Economically weaker Sections (EWS) in the All India Quota (AIQ).

In the instant matter, Petitions were filed on 24-08-2021 challenging the validity of the Notice dated 29-07-2021. The said Notice introduced 27% reservation for OBCs, and 10% reservation for EWS in the AIQ for undergraduate and postgraduate medical / dental courses (MBBS / /MD / MS/ Diploma/ BDS / MDS) from the current academic year 2021-22. The NEET-PG results were announced on 28-09-2021. On 07-10-2021, part arguments were heard and the Petitioners contended that there cannot be any reservation for the OBC and EWS category in the AIQ seats in NEET-PG and that the criteria for the determination of the EWS category notified by O.M 36039/1/20196 was unconstitutional. On 30-11-2021, the Union Government formed the Pandey Committee (Committee) to review the criteria for identifying EWS. The Committee submitted its Report on 31-12-2021. Thereafter, the Union Government filed an Affidavit before the Apex Court accepting the recommendations of the Committee including the recommendation that the existing criteria for identifying EWS be retained for the present admission year 2021-2022.

After hearing the arguments, the Bench upheld the validity of the 27% OBC reservation in the AIQ seats in NEET-PG and NEET-UG. In view of the urgency to commence the process of Counselling, the Supreme Court passed an Interim Order with the following directions:

i) “We accept the recommendation of the Pandey Committee that the criteria which have been stipulated in OM 2019 be used for 2021-2022 in order to ensure that the admission process is not dislocated;

ii) Counselling on the basis of NEET-PG 2021 and NEET- UG 2021 shall be conducted by giving effect to the reservation as provided by the notice dated 29 July 2021, including the 27 per cent reservation for the OBC category and 10 per cent reservation for EWS category in the AIQ seats;

 iii) The criteria for the determination of the EWS notified by OM 2019 shall be used for identifying the EWS category for candidates who appeared for the NEET-PG 2021 and NEET-UG 2021examinations;

 iv) The validity of the criteria determined by the Pandey Committee for identification of EWS would apply prospectively for the future be subject to the final result of the petitions; and

 v) The petitions shall be listed for final hearing on the validity of the EWS criteria as recommended by the Pandey Committee in the third week of March 2022.”