NEET 2016: Madras HC dismisses petition on single-window admission

The Madras High Court, on 19 September, dismissed a plea to hold admissions to MBBS and BDS courses in Tamil Nadu on the basis of NEET 2016 marks and ranks, stating that it's a Private Interest Litigation.

The PIL, filed by petitioner N Ramanan, asked the court to consider medical admissions to be conducted in a transparent manner. He added that TN-based MBBS aspirants had to apply to each institution separately along with necessary fees, thereby causing problems. "Non-interference of Tamil Nadu government has also contributed to this crisis," he claimed.

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The first bench of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Justice R Mahadevan, dismissing the plea, said mere surmises and conjectures could not be the basis for court orders, reported PTI. The petitioner is neither an expert in the field of medical education nor an affected party, the bench said.

Meanwhile, on Monday, 26 September, the Supreme Court will decide whether there should be common centralised counselling in a state for admission to medical and dental colleges after the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) is held. The apex court had earlier ruled in favour of a single entrance test for all undergraduate medical courses in India - NEET.

The Supreme Court (SC) will soon decide whether there should be common centralised counselling in a state for admission to medical and dental colleges after the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) is held. The apex court had earlier ruled in favour of NEET - the one and only entrance examination for all undergraduate medical courses in India. The exam applied to all government, public, private and deemed colleges.

Also Read: How Modi govt's NEET plan is exposing medical admission rackets

The hearing on state-wise centralised counselling session will begin on Monday by the apex court. A five-judge bench headed by Justice AR Dave will take the decision. Both Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have moved to SC stating that centralised counselling process will benefit aspirants who just need to attend one session instead of multiple counselling sessions. SC's final decision will have a bearing on medical admissions in other states also.

Last week, the University Grants Commission (UGC) issued a notification asking all Deemed to be Universities to admit medical aspirants in MBBS/BDS courses solely on the basis of NEET 2016 merit list. The notice further stated that all deemed universities will be a part of common counselling for admission to medical colleges, which will be conducted by state or central government, based on marks obtained in NEET 2016. In case counselling is not being held, then the admission process should be made transparent and conducted purely on the basis of merit.

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