Supreme Court asks Centre to rethink NEET-SS cut-off as 2,000+ super speciality seats remain vacant

The Supreme Court on Thursday, September 10, asked the Centre to reconsider its decision not to lower the minimum qualifying percentile for admission to super speciality medical courses. The court took note of the large number of vacant seats and directed the Centre to revisit its stand. The matter will be heard next on September 17, 2026.A bench comprising Justice Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe observed that the Centre's decision may need to be reconsidered in view of the seats that have remained vacant.The bench said the issue was “rather compelling” because a large number of super speciality seats were still unfilled.The court's intervention comes after the Centre decided against lowering the qualifying percentile for the special stray round of counselling for vacant seats arising from NEET-SS 2025.The petitioners have challenged the decision, arguing that refusing to relax the cut-off could leave more than 2,000 seats vacant across medical colleges.Centre says decision taken after consultations with NMC, MCCAdditional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati informed the Supreme Court about the Centre's decision. She said the matter had been discussed with the concerned stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, the Medical Counselling Committee, and the National Medical Commission, before the government took its decision.According to the government's note placed before the court, the MCC will conduct a special stray round to fill vacant super speciality seats from the NEET-SS 2025 counselling process.However, the special stray round will be conducted without reducing the prescribed qualifying percentile for admission.The Centre has relied on the Supreme Court's directions in the Kevin Joy case of 2023 while deciding to proceed with the special stray round without changing the eligibility threshold.Petitioners warn that over 2,000 seats could go vacantThe petitioners told the court that the government's decision could result in more than 2,000 super speciality seats remaining vacant.Advocate Rashmi Nandakumar, appearing for the petitioners, argued that authorities have repeatedly introduced additional counselling mechanisms when seats remain vacant. These have included mop-up rounds, stray vacancy rounds, special rounds and, in some instances, relaxation of eligibility requirements.The petitioners argued that leaving a substantial number of highly specialised medical seats vacant would amount to poor utilisation of available postgraduate medical infrastructure and training capacity.They have sought further counselling, including a mop-up or stray vacancy round, to ensure that the remaining seats are offered to eligible candidates.Supreme Court directs Centre to reconsider its standAfter hearing both sides, the bench asked the Centre to rethink its decision on the qualifying percentile. The court did not itself order an immediate reduction in the cut-off. Instead, it directed the Centre to reconsider the issue and place its response before the bench at the next hearing.At the request of the Additional Solicitor General, the court passed a brief order directing reconsideration of the decision. The matter has now been listed for September 17, 2026.The next hearing is therefore expected to clarify whether the Centre maintains its decision to conduct the special stray round without relaxing the qualifying percentile or changes its position in response to the court's observations.Get the latest Education News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.