Tamil Nadu: Supreme Court Allows 50% Reservation for In-Service Doctors in NEET SS Counselling

The Supreme Court has allowed the Tamil Nadu Government to continue the National Entrance cum Eligibility Test (NEET) SS counselling. Furthermore, the government can now allocate 50% of seats in super-speciality courses to NEET qualified in-service doctors.

Supreme Court Order on NEET SS Reservations in Tamil Nadu

Justice L. Nageswara Rao and Justice B. R. Gavai have declared the interim order of 27 November 2020 void. The order was regarding the counselling for admission to super-speciality medical courses for the academic year 2020-2021. It said that the counselling process should proceed without allowing 50% reservation for in-service candidates.

In his written statement, Justice Gavi has said, “We are of the view that no case is made out for continuing the interim protection which was granted for the academic year 2020­-2021… and thus, we reject the prayer in that regard. Needless to say that the state of Tamil Nadu would be at liberty to continue the counselling for the academic year 2021-2022 by taking into consideration the reservation provided by it as per the said GO.”

On 14 March, the top court passed an order on the plea challenging the Tamil Nadu government’s decision. The decision was to allocate 50% of seats in government medical colleges to NEET-qualified in-service doctors. Senior advocate Dushyant Dave has submitted a statement. It stated that the order given by the government is “completely unconstitutional” and “without any authority”. He supported the argument by stating that there is no reservation for super-speciality courses.

The Tamil Nadu government said that allocation of reservations to in-service doctors is a “separate source of entry and not a reservation.” Its purpose is to make special provisions for doctors who would be then available for serving in rural areas. In conclusion, the Tamil Nadu government said that removing the state’s ability to provide admission sources would violate the federal system. Additionally, it would also result in centralized policy-making in places where the state has the legal authority to do so.

Read More: NEET SS 2021 Counselling Schedule Released