The Supreme Court has observed that in-service government doctors should have a lower qualifying cut-off in NEET Super Speciality (NEET SS) admissions, noting that they continue to serve the public while pursuing higher education. The Court made the observations while hearing a plea challenging Tamil Nadu’s decision to surrender 152 vacant in-service super speciality seats to the All India Quota (AIQ).
Supreme Court Issues Notice on Fresh Plea
A vacation bench of Justices BV Nagarathna and Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the concerned authorities on a petition filed by the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association and another petitioner, seeking to restrain the Tamil Nadu Government from surrendering 152 vacant in-service Super Speciality medical seats (2025-26) to the All India Quota.
During the hearing, Justice Nagarathna orally observed that government doctors who acquire super-speciality skills ultimately strengthen the public healthcare system.
“A government doctor, if acquires more skills, will serve public health better than a private doctor. How many people can afford private hospitals?” Justice Nagarathna remarked.
Background of the Dispute
The matter arises after the Supreme Court, in the case of Tamilvani & Others vs State of Tamil Nadu, directed the Tamil Nadu Government to surrender 151 vacant DM and M.Ch seats to the All India Quota after they remained unfilled during the ongoing NEET SS 2025 counselling process.
A bench comprising Justices Pamidighantam Sri Narasimha and Alok Aradhe had directed the State to inform the Director General of Health Services so that the vacant seats could be filled through the All India merit list.
Following this order, the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association approached the Apex Court, arguing that in-service doctors should first be allowed to compete for these seats if the qualifying percentile is reduced and additional counselling rounds are conducted.
Association Seeks Lower Percentile for In-Service Doctors
Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate P. Wilson argued that unlike postgraduate medical admissions, the qualifying percentile for NEET SS has not been reduced despite previous years witnessing such reductions during later rounds of counselling.
The petitioners submitted that surrendering the vacant seats before completing the second round of counselling and before deciding on the reduction of the qualifying percentile would unfairly disadvantage in-service government doctors and adversely affect Tamil Nadu’s public healthcare system.
The counsel also informed the Court that the Tamil Nadu Government has already filed a review petition against the earlier Supreme Court order directing surrender of the vacant seats.
Justice Nagarathna Highlights Importance of Public Health
During the hearing, Justice Nagarathna questioned why the qualifying percentile had not been reduced for in-service candidates.
She observed that government doctors continue serving patients while simultaneously preparing for highly competitive examinations, unlike many other candidates who are able to study full-time.
“In every State, there are in-service candidates. They are government doctors working for public health. The cut-off for them should be lower because they are serving and studying at the same time,” Justice Nagarathna observed.
She further stated that if these seats are surrendered directly to the All India Quota, State government doctors lose valuable opportunities to acquire super-speciality training, ultimately impacting public healthcare delivery.
According to the Court, strengthening the skills of government doctors directly benefits patients who depend on public hospitals.
NMC Defends Seat Conversion
Representing the National Medical Commission (NMC), Advocate Mithu Jain submitted that the conversion of vacant in-service seats into the All India Quota was in accordance with an earlier Supreme Court judgment in the N. Karthikeyan case, which remains under consideration.
When informed that the in-service reservation policy is unique to Tamil Nadu, Justice Nagarathna remarked that merely because the matter concerns Tamil Nadu, the issue cannot be viewed differently.
The Court also questioned why the association representing in-service doctors was not made a party in the earlier proceedings before the order directing seat conversion was passed.
Court Clarifies It Is Not Modifying Earlier Order
Justice Nagarathna clarified that the present bench was not altering the order passed by the coordinate bench.
However, she stressed that the larger issue concerns public healthcare across the country.
The Court observed that reducing the qualifying percentile for in-service candidates could benefit government doctors nationwide and suggested that authorities should follow the earlier practice of lowering the qualifying percentile before converting any remaining vacant seats to the All India Quota.
While addressing the issue of the delayed second round of NEET SS counselling, the bench declined to pass any specific direction at this stage.
The matter will now be considered after responses are filed by the concerned authorities.
