NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday declined any interim relief to a government doctors’ association and said the Tamil Nadu government would have to grant admission to post-graduate medical courses to in-service doctors as per the amended regulations of the Medical Council of India (MCI).
After the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET), 50 per cent of the seats for medical PG courses are filled by the Centre, while the remaining 50 per cent are filled by the states, which may give incentive marks up to 30 per cent to government doctors who are serving in rural and remote areas.
Tamil Nadu and some other states are seeking autonomy to decide how to fill their share of the seats by devising norms on the quota, which is why they have challenged the MCI regulations.
A five-judge Constitution bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and justices A K Sikri, A M Khanwilkar, D Y Chandrachud and Ashok Bhushan dismissed an application for interim relief to provide reservation to in-service doctors in PG courses.
The bench said the counselling process for admissions would go on as per the MCI regulations and its final verdict would decide the fate of admissions. Prescribing a separate source of entry for in-service degree candidates would directly result in a lowering of standards in medical education, it said.
The bench also agreed with the MCI’s argument that allowing a state to have a separate quota for in-service candidates would affect merit. The plea had cited Regulation 9(4), which says the reservation of seats in medical colleges for respective categories in PG courses shall be as per applicable laws of the states and UTs.