The National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) has recently reduced the qualifying percentile for reserved category candidates for the NEET PG 2025 third round of counselling to ‘0’ percentile or minus
‘-40′ marks. Dr. Lakshya Mittal, President of the United Doctors Front (UDF), and others have filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) in the Supreme Court of India, contesting this negative qualifying cut-off marks.
The doctors’ body has challenged “the arbitrary and unprecedented reduction of qualifying cut-off percentiles for NEET-PG 2025–26, including zero and negative scores.” The PIL, registered as Diary No. 3085/2026, is filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, represented by Advocate Satyam Singh Rajput, Advocate Adarsh Singh, and Advocate-on-Record Neema.
The petitioners argue that allowing candidates with extremely low or negative scores to qualify for postgraduate medical training endangers patient safety, public health, and the integrity of the medical profession. The petition claims this decision is arbitrary, unconstitutional, and violates Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution of India.
Additionally, the PIL states that such a dilution of merit contradicts established judicial principles and breaches the National Medical Commission Act, 2019, which mandates regulatory bodies to uphold minimum standards in medical education.
The petition seeks directions from the Supreme Court to annul the NBEMS notification and restore minimum qualifying standards in postgraduate medical education.
The case has recently been filed and is expected to be listed before the Supreme Court soon.
The NEET PG 2025 round 3 counselling registration started on January 15. The cut-off for SC, ST, and OBC category candidates has been lowered to zero, while the cut-off for general and EWS candidates has been reduced from the 50th to the 7th percentile, decreasing the required score from 276 to 103 marks. This decision aims to fill vacant seats in medical colleges by allowing more candidates to participate in counselling and occupy available seats, with allocations still based on rank.
