The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the decision of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to allow counselling for SC,
ST and OBC candidates who scored minus 40 marks out of 800 in the NEET-PG 2025 examination.
A two-judge bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra rejected the petition filed by advocate Abhinav Gaur. While dismissing the plea, the court noted that the Delhi High Court had earlier rejected a similar PIL, observing that the issue fell within the domain of policy and was not open to judicial interference. The bench also took note of the fact that another petition on the same issue is pending before the Supreme Court.
The petitioner had argued that the NBEMS decision was unconstitutional and violated Article 16 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal opportunity in matters of public employment. The plea challenged the decision to substantially reduce the cut-off marks for NEET-PG 2025, contending that such a move would dilute the merit-based selection process.
It was further argued that permitting candidates who failed to meet the minimum qualifying standards to participate in counselling would infringe upon the right to health and life under Article 21 of the Constitution, as it could affect the quality of medical professionals entering the system.
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Meanwhile, NEET PG 2025 counselling for Round 3 is currently underway. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) is scheduled to announce the Round 3 seat allotment result on January 29, 2026. The results will be released online in PDF format and will be available for download on the official MCC website.
The registration process for Round 3 counselling closed earlier on January 29, while the revised seat matrix was published on January 23, 2026. Candidates have been advised to keep checking the official website for further updates related to the counselling process.
