To prevent the 50 per cent ‘All India Quota' (AIQ) seats in post graduate medical courses from going back to the States without any counselling, the Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Directorate-General of Health Services to conduct the ‘extended second round of counselling' between June 2 and 12 in the capital.
To facilitate such counselling, a Bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra directed all States to send a report to the DGHS by 5 p.m. on May 27 the updated number of vacancies resulting from non-joining, resigning and surrendering of seats in AIQ. The Bench asked the States to strictly adhere to the time schedule in regard to the reporting of vacancies.
Passing orders on a writ petition filed by Dr. Naval Asija and others, the Bench directed the DGHS to put the time-schedule on the website by May 20 and notify the total number of vacancies on June 1. After the extended second round of counselling the students will join the allotted colleges by June 20 and the vacant AIQ seats may be deemed to be surrendered to the States on June 21 and the deadline for students to join the allotted course will be June 30.
The grievance of the petitioners was that most of the States did not comply with the counselling schedule for admission to post graduate courses deliberately with the intention of usurping the seats belonging to the AIQ to their own State quota. It was submitted that rank holders in the all-India entrance examination conducted by the AIIMS would be irreparably harmed if the seats which belonged to the AIQ were taken away by the States and not offered to the AIQ.
The petitioners pointed out that the second round of counselling under the AIQ was normally held after the first round was completed by the States under the State quota since a large number of students took both the AIIMS and the State entrance tests. Students vacated the AIQ seat if they obtained a better seat in the State quota and it was for this reason the States must complete the first round of counselling on time and report the vacant seats. But many States did not conduct the first counselling and report the vacant seats under the AIQ and as a result this quota got added to the State quota seats.
Hence they wanted a direction for further round of counselling in the AIQ and a direction to the States to report the vacancies.
