Supreme Court puts on hold counselling for medical courses in Tamil Nadu

A bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra was hearing a plea filed by six students seeking a direction to the state government to conduct counselling for the medical seats solely on the basis of the merit list prepared on the basis of NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test) marks.

"Status quo existing as on today, as regards the admission to the medical courses in the State of Tamil Nadu, shall be maintained till then," it said.

The apex court asked the state government to provide the details regarding the number of students who have passed qualifying 12th examination from the State Board and have qualified for NEET.

No student should suffer due to the proposed state government's ordinance, the bench said.

"We have asked the counsel for Tamil Nadu and the Medical Council of India (MCI) to consider how a balanced situation can be thought of so that the students who have come from the State Board and have not been equipped to appear in NEET examination and the students who have appeared in the NEET examination and have qualified, can be adjusted," it said.

"The state shall file the result sheet of the NEET examination pertaining to the students who belong to the state of Tamil Nadu. That apart, the state shall also file the State Board merit list," the bench, also comprising Justices Amitava Roy and A M Khanwilkar, said.

The students, through senior counsel Nalini Chidambaram, had submitted that the recent ordinance of the State to exempt Tamil Nadu from NEET this year was merely a political bargaining chip which would affect the lives and careers of students.

"The Tamil Nadu Ministers started bargaining with the Central Government to get Presidential assent for an ordinance they propose to introduce exempting Tamil Nadu Students from NEET for the academic year 2017-18 as a quid pro quo for supporting the NDA Candidates for the Presidential and Vice presidential candidates," the plea alleged.

The students, in their plea, prayed that the state government be directed "to select students for MBBS seats in the Government Medical Colleges in Tamil Nadu and for the Government Quota Seats in Self Financing Private Medical Colleges and in Raja Muthiah Medical And dental College, Annamalai University, Chidambaram for the academic year 201718 only based on the merit list prepared as per NEET marks".