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Supreme Court of India

DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS.versusTHE MEDICAL COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS.

Citation
2022 INSC 641
Decided
10 June 2022
Disposal
Dismissed

Holding

The Court held that the decision not to conduct a Special Stray Round of counselling is not arbitrary and cannot be compelled, thereby denying the petitioners' relief.

Summary

The petitioners, who had participated in all rounds of NEET‑PG 2021 counselling, sought a Special Stray Round to fill 1,456 vacant seats (mostly non‑clinical) that remained after eight to nine rounds of counselling. The respondents, the Medical Counselling Committee and the Union of India, declined, citing the need to adhere to the statutory time‑schedule and the commencement of NEET‑PG 2022 admissions. The Court examined whether the refusal was arbitrary and whether the petitioners could compel a further round through a writ of mandamus under Article 32. Relying on earlier judgments (Supreet Batra and Education Promotion Society) that mid‑term admissions and alteration of the counselling scheme are impermissible, the Court held that the decision not to conduct an additional round was lawful and in the public‑health interest. Consequently, the petitions were dismissed without any order as to costs.

Issues considered

  • Whether the petitioners are entitled to a Special Stray Round of counselling for the vacant NEET‑PG 2021 seats after the scheduled rounds have been completed.
  • Whether the refusal to conduct an additional round is arbitrary or violative of the right to education under Article 32.
  • Whether the statutory time‑schedule for medical postgraduate admissions can be altered or extended in view of vacant seats.

Subjects

NEET-PGmedical counsellingvacant seatsspecial stray roundmandamusadmission schedulepublic healthmedical education

Judgment

1078                       [2022]
                SUPREME COURT     7 S.C.R. 1078
                               REPORTS                         [2022] 7 S.C.R.


 A                        DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS.
                                           v.
            THE MEDICAL COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS.
                         (Writ Petition (C) No. 409 of 2022)
 B                                 JUNE 10, 2022
                 [M. R. SHAH AND ANIRUDDHA BOSE, JJ.]
              Education/Educational Institutions: Medical admission –
       NEET-PG-2022 –Conduct of Special Stray Round of counselling
 C     with respect to vacant seats – Entitlement to – Modified scheme of
       counselling for Academic Year 2021-2022 whereby, four rounds of
       counselling undertaken for All India Quota seats as well as States’
       Quotas each-in all eight rounds of counselling – After completion,
       out of 40,000 seats, 1456 seats remained vacant wherein more than
       1100 seats are non-clinical seats and the remaining are the clinical
 D     seats, all with respect to the private institutions – Petitioners claiming
       admission on the remaining vacant seats– Direction sought to the
       respondents to conduct a Special Stray Round of counselling –Held:
       Students cannot seek admission on those seats remaining vacant
       after approximately one year of academic session and after eight
 E     or nine rounds of counselling–When the Medical Counselling
       Committee and the Union of India have to adhere to the time schedule
       for completing the admission process and ever after conducting
       eight to nine rounds of counselling, still some seats have remained
       vacant, a conscious decision taken by the Union Government/the
       Medical Counselling Committee, not to conduct a further Special
 F
       Stray Round of counselling, cannot said to be arbitrary– Decision
       of, not to have Special Stray Round of counselling is in the interest
       of Medical Education and Public Health – There cannot be any
       compromise with the merits and/or quality of Medical Education,
       which may ultimately affect the Public Health– Process of admission
 G     and that too in the medical education cannot be endless– Time
       schedule has to be strictly adhered to – Furthermore, after closure
       of the last round of counselling, the entire software mechanism has
       been closed and the security deposit is refunded to the eligible
       candidates, if one additional Special Stray Round of counselling is
       conducted now, it may affect the admission process for NEET-PG-
 H
                                         1078
          DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS. v. THE MEDICAL                               1079
              COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS.

2022 – In view thereof, the petitioners not entitled to the relief of          A
conducting a Special Stray Round of counselling for filling up the
remaining vacant seats of NEET-PG-2021.
        Education Promotion Society for India and Anr. v. Union
        of India and Ors.(2019) 7 SCC 38 : [2019] 8 SCR 794;
        Supreet Batra and Ors. v. Union of India and Ors.                      B
        (2003) 3 SCC 370 : [2003] 1 SCR 586 – referred to.
                         Case Law Reference
[2019] 8 SCR 794                   referred to               Para 8.2
[2003] 1 SCR 586                   referred to               Para 8.3          C
        CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION : Writ Petition (C) No.409 of
2022.
        (Under Article 32 Of The Constitution Of India)
        With
                                                                               D
        Writ Petition (C) Nos.393, 10395 And 10539 of 2022.
      Ms. Rachana Shrivastava, A. D. N. Rao, Sr. Advs., Kunal Cheema,
Ms. Aditi Deshpande Parkhi, Milind Kumar, Dr. Charu Mathur, Ms.
Tanvi, Sanjay Kumar Dubey, Avijit Mani Tripathi, Annam Venkatesh, D.
Shiva Shankar, Advs. for the Appellants.                                       E
      Balbir Singh, ASG, Shyam Gopal, Samarvir Singh, Naman Tandon,
K. Gurumurthy, Prahlad Singh, G. S. Makker, Gaurav Sharma, Prateek
Bhatia, Dhawal Mohan, Kirtiman Singh, Ms. Manmeet Kaur Sareen,
Advs. for the Respondents.
        The Order of the Court was passed by                                   F
        M. R. SHAH, J.
       1. As common question of law and facts arise in this group of writ
petitions/special leave petitions, they are being disposed of by this common
order.
                                                                               G
       2. For the sake of convenience, Writ Petition (C) No.409 of 2022-
Dr. Astha Goel and Ors. Vs. The Medical Counselling Committee &
Ors. is treated as the lead matter. By way of this writ petition being Writ
Petition No. 409 of 2022 under Article 32 of the Constitution of India,
the seven petitioners have prayed for the following reliefs:-
                                                                               H
1080              SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2022] 7 S.C.R.


 A           “a)     Issue an Appropriate Writ, Order or Direction, in the nature
                     of a Writ of Mandamus, under Article 32 of the Constitution
                     to direct Respondent No. 1 to provide the exact number of
                     vacant seats after the conduct of stray vacancy round of
                     AIQ;
 B           b)     Issue an Appropriate Writ, Order or Direction, in the nature
                    of a Writ of Mandamus, under Article 32 of the Constitution
                    to direct Respondent No. 1 to conduct a Special Stray Round
                    of counselling to allow the candidates to participate for the
                    vacant seats which are available after the conduct of stray
                    vacancy round of AIQ;
 C
                                           xxxxxxx”
              3. In Writ Petition (C) No. 393 of 2022, one additional prayer is
       made to issue an appropriate writ, direction or order directing the
       respondent Nos. 1 and 2 –The Medical Consulting Committee and the
 D     Union of India to revert the Medical P.G. seats remaining vacant after
       the AIQ stray vacancy round as regards the admissions conducted
       pursuant to NEET-PG-2021 examination to the State Quotas, for being
       allotted through State Mop-Up Rounds.
             4. The petitioners of Special Leave Petition (C) No. 10395 of
 E     2022 and Special Leave Petition (C) No. 10539 of 2022 approached the
       respective High Courts for the very reliefs, which are now sought in the
       aforesaid writ petitions, namely directing the respondents to conduct a
       Special Stray Round of counselling so as to allow them to participate for
       the vacant seats, which are available after the conduct of stray vacancy
       round of AIQ. By the impugned orders, the respective High Courts have
 F     dismissed the writ petitions, hence the original writ petitioners have
       preferred the present special leave petitions.
             5. The dispute is with respect to the admissions for NEET-PG-
       2021. Around 40,000 seats were available for NEET-PG examination,
       which included the clinical as well as non-clinical seats. 92,000 candidates/
 G     doctors were initially eligible for examination for the said seats. However,
       subsequently, the percentage was lowered by communication dated
       12.05.2022 and another 25,000 candidates became eligible.
             5.1 The NEET-PG examination was conducted on 11.09.2021.
       The result was declared on 28.09.2021. As per the earlier counselling
 H     scheme, there were two rounds of counselling for All India Seats as well
      DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS. v. THE MEDICAL                                 1081
    COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS. [M. R. SHAH, J.]

as State Quotas seats respectively. However, as per the modified             A
counselling scheme, counselling is to be carried in four rounds and no
seats were to be reverted to States. These four rounds were AIQ Round
1, AIQ Round 2, AIQ Mop-up Round and AIQ Stray Vacancy Round.
       5.2 That for NEET-PG-2021, Round 1 was held on 12.01.2022,
Round 2 was held on 05.02.2022, Mop-Up Round was held on 14.04.2022          B
and final Stray Round started on 28.04.2022 and ended on 07.05.2022.
At the end of the four rounds of counselling, each for All India Quota
and State Quotas (in all eight rounds of counselling) and thereafter one
another round of counselling was conducted, and still approximately 1456
seats remain vacant.
                                                                             C
       5.3 The respective petitioners, who earlier participated in all the
counsellings and could not get the admissions have now approached this
Court by way of present writ petitions/special leave petitions praying for
Special Stray Round of counselling with respect to the remaining 1456
seats remained vacant and to allow them to participate for the vacant
seats, which are available after the conduct of the Stray vacancy round      D
of AIQ.
       6. Ms. Rachna Shrivastava, learned Senior Advocate has appeared
on behalf of the writ petitioners of Writ Petition (C) No. 409 of 2022;
Shri A.D.N. Rao, learned Senior Advocate has appeared on behalf of
the petitioner in Special Leave Petition (C) No. 10395 of 2022; Shri         E
Avijit Mani Tripathi, learned counsel has appeared on behalf of the
petitioner in Special Leave Petition (C) No. 10539 of 2022 and Shri
Kunal Cheema, learned counsel has appeared on behalf of the writ
petitioner in Writ Petition (C) No.393 of 2022. Shri Balbir Singh, learned
Additional Solicitor General has appeared on behalf of the Union of          F
India and Shri Gaurav Sharma, learned counsel has appeared on behalf
of the Medical Counselling Committee as well as the National Board of
Examinations.
       7. Learned Senior Advocates/counsel appearing on behalf of the
respective petitioners have made following submissions in support of         G
their prayer to direct the respondents to conduct a Special Stray Round
of counselling with respect to the seats which have remained vacant:-
      (i)    Total 1456 seats have remained vacant for NEET-PG-2021,
             wastage of 1456 seats still hamper the interest of both
             colleges and the candidates;
                                                                             H
1082          SUPREME COURT REPORTS                         [2022] 7 S.C.R.


 A     (ii)     The respective petitioners – candidates are ready to get
                admission on any of the seats remained vacant;
       (iii)    Due to abrupt addition of additional seats in NEET-PG-
                2021, an additional round of counselling for 146 seats was
                conducted pursuant to the order passed by this Court. Apart
 B              from this, the Mop-Up round was cancelled and was
                directed to be reconducted. Therefore, the point of four
                counselling cannot be brought when due to severe glitches
                additional rounds were already conducted;
       (iv)     Out of 1456 seats remaining vacant, there are many seats,
 C              which are clinical seats also. Therefore, it is not correct to
                say that the seats, which have remained vacant are of
                Paramedical courses;
       (v)      The seats which have remained vacant have remained
                vacant due to the non-joining, resignation and the candidates
                not reported. It is submitted that therefore, it was the duty
 D
                cast upon the respondents to fill up the posts remained vacant
                due to the aforesaid grounds from and amongst the remaining
                candidates;
       (vi)     It is the duty of the Medical Counselling Committee to have
                conducted an additional round keeping in view the large
 E              number of seats (1456) remaining vacant;
       (vii) Closing of the software before filling of those seats itself is
             not justifiable. Even if the software is closed, looking at the
             gravity and urgency, a mechanism can be developed to fill
             in the vacant seats;
 F     (viii) That the submission on behalf of the Medical Counselling
              Committee and the Union of India that the respective
              candidates have already been refunded the amount cannot
              be a ground not to conduct an additional round of counselling;
       (ix)     The candidates for NEET-PG-2021 and 2022 are different.
 G              Many candidates, who participated in the counselling for
                NEET-PG-2021 did not even register for NEET-PG-2022
                with a hope that they will get a seat in the counselling.
                Registration for NEET-PG-2022 has already been closed
                on 25.03.2022, giving no room to the candidates for NEET-
 H              PG-2021 to appear for the NEET-PG-2022;
      DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS. v. THE MEDICAL                                   1083
    COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS. [M. R. SHAH, J.]

      (x)    The candidates cannot be replaced for NEET-PG-2021 and            A
             NEET-PG-2022, 1456 seats can only be open for a merit-
             based competition for NEET-PG-2021;
      (xi)   If the candidates like the petitioners are given the admissions
             on the seats remaining vacant now, it may not affect their
             education. Even the classes of NEET-PG-2021 started even          B
             much before the first counselling batch started. That
             thereafter and after the courses started, there are three
             Mop-Up Rounds conducted and the students are given
             admissions and the last admission was given on 07.05.2022.
             The students, who are given admissions now will be able to
             complete their full studies.                                      C

      Making above submissions, it is urged and prayed to direct the
respondents to conduct a Special Stray Round of counselling as a one-
time measure and as a special case.
       8. Present petitions/special leave petitions are vehemently opposed     D
by Shri Balbir Singh, learned ASG appearing on behalf of the Union of
India and Shri Gaurav Sharma, learned counsel appearing on behalf of
the Medical Counselling Committee. A counter is filed on behalf of the
respondent Nos. 1 and 3 – Union of India/ Director General of Health
Services.
                                                                               E
        8.1 It is vehemently submitted by Shri Balbir Singh, learned ASG
that in the present case, the dispute is with respect to the NEET-PG-
2021 seats. It is submitted that in the present case, four rounds of
counselling each for All India Quota and State’s Quotas have been carried
out and out of 40,000 seats only 1456 seats have remained vacant after
in all nine rounds of counselling. It is submitted that out of 1456 seats      F
remaining vacant, approximately, 1100 seats are with respect to non-
clinical courses and the remaining seats are with respect to the private
colleges and with respect to the clinical courses. It is submitted that all
those seats have remained vacant, which usually remain vacant every
year as they are notakers and/or they can be said to be rejected seats. It
                                                                               G
is submitted that all those seats remain vacant every year and, in many
cases, they are not opted by the concerned candidate as nobody like to
opt for non-clinical courses and even with respect to some of the clinical
courses, as there is a high fee in the private colleges, they are notakers
and therefore, some of the seats are remaining vacant every year. It is
submitted that therefore even after one additional round of counselling is     H
1084             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                            [2022] 7 S.C.R.


 A     carried out as requested by the petitioners, in that case also the seats are
       bound to remain vacant. It is submitted that there cannot be endless
       exercise of conducting counseling one after another till all the seats are
       filled in. It is submitted that after the nine rounds of counselling when
       some of the seats have remained vacant and considering the fact that
       the PG courses (clinical) is three-years course, out of which, for whatever
 B
       reason, more than one year had gone and there cannot be any
       compromise so far as the Medical Education is concerned and considering
       the fact that the admission process for NEET-PG-2022 has already begun
       and the counselling for NEET-PG-2022 is to begin/start in July, 2022, a
       conscious decision has been taken not to conduct one another Special
 C     Stray Round of counselling.
              8.2 It is further submitted on behalf of the Union of India and the
       Medical Counselling Committee that the last round of counselling ended
       on 07.05.2022. That thereafter, the entire software mechanism has been
       closed and the security deposit has also been refunded to the eligible
 D     candidates. It is submitted that a significant proportion of seats, which
       remain vacant are in non-clinical courses and these are no taker seats,
       which seats generally remain vacant. It is submitted that every year,
       some number of seats remain vacant. It is submitted that the identical
       question came to be considered by this Court in the case of Education
       Promotion Society for India and Anr. Vs. Union of India and Ors.,
 E     (2019) 7 SCC 38. It is submitted that before this Hon’ble Court, the
       petitioners prayed for general extension of time and prayed for additional
       Mop-Up Round of counselling on the ground that a large number of
       seats for PG courses were lying vacant. It is submitted that in the said
       decision after taking note of the fact that every year, large number of
 F     non-clinical seats remain vacant because many graduate doctors do not
       want to do postgraduation in non-clinical subjects, it is observed that
       merely because the seats are lying vacant is not a ground to grant
       extension of time and grant further opportunity to fill up vacant seats. It
       is submitted that in the aforesaid decision, it is observed that the schedule
       must be followed and if the violation of schedule is permitted and
 G     extension is granted, it will be opening a pandora’s box and the whole
       purpose of fixing a time schedule and laying down a regime which strictly
       adheres to the time schedule will be defeated.
            8.3 Shri Gaurav Sharma, learned counsel appearing on behalf of
       the Medical Counselling Committee and the National Board of
 H     Examinations has also relied upon the earlier decision of this Court in the
       DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS. v. THE MEDICAL                                    1085
     COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS. [M. R. SHAH, J.]

case of Supreet Batra and Ors. Vs. Union of India and Ors., (2003)               A
3 SCC 370 in support of his submission that even if some seats remained
vacant, the students cannot be admitted mid-term.
       8.4 Making above submission, it is prayed to dismiss the present
writ petitions/special leave petitions.
                                                                                 B
       9. Heard the learned counsel appearing for the respective parties
at length.
       10. At the outset, it is required to be noted that in the present case,
the dispute is with respect to the NEET-PG-2021 and the time schedule
for the approved counselling has been fixed pursuant to the direction
                                                                                 C
issued by this Court and/or approved by this Court. Ordinarily, the first
round of counselling in PG courses begins in the month of March of
every academic year and subsequently the academic session begins from
the month of May of every academic year. However, NEET-PG-2021
examination was delayed due to the third wave of COVID-19 pandemic
and various litigations across the nation implementing the 27% OBC               D
reservation in AIQ seats.
       10.1 At this stage, it is required to be noted that as per the earlier
counselling policy, only two rounds of counselling were being held for All
India Quota seats and State Quotas. The modified scheme of counselling
for Academic Year 2021-2022 and onwards was submitted before this                E
Court in Special Leave Petition (C) No.10487 of 2021 and this Court
approved the same. As per the modified scheme of counselling, this time
four rounds of counselling have been undertaken for All India Quota
seats as well as States’ Quotas each. That thereafter one another round
of counselling was conducted pursuant to the subsequent order passed
                                                                                 F
by this Court, as approximately 146 seats were added. The NEET-PG-
2021 counselling commenced on 12.01.2022 and after completion of the
four rounds of counselling for All India Quota seats and State Quotas (in
all eight rounds of counselling), out of 40,000 seats, 1456 seats have
remained vacant. It appears that out of 1456 seats approximately more
than 1100 seats are with respect to the non-clinical courses and the             G
remaining are with respect to the clinical courses and all the seats are
with respect to the private institutions. The respective petitioners are
claiming admission on the remaining vacant seats and have prayed to
direct the respondents to conduct a Special Stray Round of counselling.
The main submission on behalf of the petitioners, as noted hereinabove,          H
1086            SUPREME COURT REPORTS                           [2022] 7 S.C.R.


 A     is that as large number of seats have remained vacant, the same be
       filled in by conducting additional/Special Stray Round of counselling for
       the seats remaining vacant, which are mostly non-clinical courses, which
       remained even after eight or nine rounds of counselling. The students
       cannot still pray for admission on those seats remaining vacant after
       approximately one year of academic session and remaining vacant after
 B
       eight or nine rounds of counselling.
            10.2 At this stage, the decisions of this Court in the case of Supreet
       Batra and Ors. (supra) and Education Promotion Society for India
       and Anr. (supra) are required to be referred to.
 C           In the case of Supreet Batra and Ors.(supra), it is observed
       and held that even if some seats remain vacant, the students cannot be
       admitted mid-term. In paragraph 7, it is observed and held as under:-
             “7. When a detailed scheme has been framed through orders of
             this Court and the manner in which it has to be worked out is also
 D           indicated therein, we do not think that if in a particular year there
             is any shortfall or a certain number of seats are not filled up, the
             same should be done by adopting one more round of counselling
             because there is no scope for the third round of counselling under
             the Scheme. It would not be advisable to go on altering the Scheme
             as and when seats are vacant. What is to be borne in mind is that
 E           broad equality will have to be achieved and not that it should result
             in any mathematical exactitude. Out of about 1600 seats, if 200
             seats are not filled up for various reasons and such not-filled-up
             seats were much less in the earlier years, we do not think it should
             result in the third round of counselling. If that process is to be
 F           adopted then there will be again vacancies and further filling up
             of the seats falling vacant will have to be undertaken. In that
             process, it will become endless until all the seats under the all-
             India quota are filled up. That is not the object of the Scheme
             formulated by this Court. The object was to achieve a broad-
             based equality as indicated by us at the outset and we do not think
 G           that any steps have to be taken for altering the Scheme. We have
             taken identical view in the decision in Neelu Arora v. Union of
             India [(2003) 3 SCC 366] and connected matters disposed of on
             24-1-2003. Moreover, this Court in Medical Council of
             India v. Madhu Singh [(2002) 7 SCC 258] has taken the view
 H           that there is no scope for admitting students midstream as that
      DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS. v. THE MEDICAL                                    1087
    COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS. [M. R. SHAH, J.]

      would be against the very spirit of statutes governing medical            A
      education. Even if seats are unfilled that cannot be a ground for
      making mid-session admissions and there cannot be telescoping
      of unfilled seats of one year with permitted seats of the subsequent
      year. If these aspects are borne in mind, we do not think any
      reliefs as sought for by the petitioners can be granted under these
                                                                                B
      petitions. These writ petitions shall stand dismissed.”
       10.3 In the case of Education Promotion Society for India
and Anr. (supra), the writ petitioners like the petitioners in the present
case prayed for extension of time schedule and prayed for the additional
counselling. This Court negated the same. This Court also took the note
of the fact that every year large number of non-clinical seats remain           C
vacant because many graduate doctors do not want to do postgraduation
in non-clinical subjects. Thereafter, it is observed and held that merely
because the seats are lying vacant, is not a ground to grant extension of
time and grant further opportunity to fill up vacant seats. It is observed
that the schedule must be followed. While holding so, it is observed in         D
paragraph 6 as under:-
      “6. In this case the petitioners want a general extension of time
      not on account of any particular difficulty faced by any individual
      college or university but generally on the ground that a large
      number of seats for the PG courses are lying vacant. It is stated         E
      that more than 1000 seats are lying vacant. In the affidavit filed
      by the UoI it is mentioned that as far as deemed universities are
      concerned there are 603 seats lying vacant. However, it is important
      to note that out of 603 seats lying vacant only 31 are in clinical
      subjects and the vast majority (572) that is almost 95% of the
      seats are lying vacant in non-clinical subjects. There is no material     F
      on record to show as to what is the situation with regard to the
      remaining 400-500 seats. This Court however can take judicial
      notice of the fact that every year large number of non-clinical
      seats remain vacant because many graduate doctors do not want
      to do postgraduation in non-clinical subjects. Merely because the         G
      seats are lying vacant, in our view, is not a ground to grant extension
      of time and grant further opportunity to fill up vacant seats. The
      schedule must be followed. If we permit violation of schedule and
      grant extension, we shall be opening a pandora’s box and the
      whole purpose of fixing a time schedule and laying down a regime
      which strictly adheres to time schedule will be defeated.”                H
1088             SUPREME COURT REPORTS                            [2022] 7 S.C.R.


 A            10.4 Applying the law laid down by this Court in the aforesaid two
       decisions to the facts of the case on hand and when the Medical
       Counselling Committee and the Union of India have to adhere to the
       time schedule for completing the admission process and when the current
       admission of NEET-PG-2021 is already behind time schedule and ever
       after conducting eight to nine rounds of counselling, still some seats,
 B
       which are mainly non-clinical courses seats have remained vacant and
       thereafter when a conscious decision is taken by the Union Government/
       the Medical Counselling Committee, not to conduct a further Special
       Stray Round of counselling, it cannot be said that the same is arbitrary.
       The decision of the Union Government and the Medical Counselling
 C     Committee not to have Special Stray Round of counselling is in the interest
       of Medical Education and Public Health. There cannot be any
       compromise with the merits and/or quality of Medical Education, which
       may ultimately affect the Public Health.
             10.5 The process of admission and that too in the medical education
 D     cannot be endless. It must end at a particular point of time. The time
       schedule has to be adhered to, otherwise, ultimately, it may affect the
       medical education and the public health.
               10.6 Apart from the fact that after closure of the last round of
       counselling on 07.05.2022, the entire software mechanism has been
 E     closed and the security deposit is refunded to the eligible candidates, it is
       to be noted that the admission process for NEET-PG-2022 has already
       begun, the results for the NEET-PG-2022 has been announced on
       01.06.2022 and as per the time schedule, the counselling process is going
       to start in July, 2022. Therefore, if one additional Special Stray Round of
       counselling is conducted now, as prayed, in that case, it may affect the
 F
       admission process for NEET-PG-2022.
              10.7 At the cost of repetition, it is observed and held that even
       after eight to nine rounds of counselling, out of 40,000 seats, 1456 seats
       have remained vacant, out of which approximately, more than 1100 seats
       are non-clinical seats, which every year remain vacant, of which the
 G
       judicial notice has been taken by this Court in the case of Education
       Promotion Society for India and Anr. (supra)
              11. In view of the above and for the reasons stated above, the
       petitioners are not entitled to any relief of writ of Mandamus directing
       the respondents to conduct a Special Stray Round of counselling for
 H
       DR. ASTHA GOEL AND ORS. v. THE MEDICAL                               1089
     COUNSELLING COMMITTEE & ORS. [M. R. SHAH, J.]

filling up the remaining vacant seats of NEET-PG-2021. Granting of          A
such relief now may affect the medical education and ultimately the
public health as observed hereinabove.
       12. Under the circumstances, both these writ petitions and the
special leave petitions deserve to be dismissed and are accordingly
dismissed. However, in the facts and circumstances of the case, there       B
shall be no order as to costs.

Nidhi Jain                                           Petitions dismissed.


                                                                            C




                                                                            D




                                                                            E




                                                                            F




                                                                            G




                                                                            H


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