DR R. DINESH KUMAR REDDY & ORS versus MEDICAL COUNSELLING COMMITTEE (MCC) & ORS. on 13 May 2022

1. The jurisdiction of this Court under Article 32 of the Constitutionhas been invoked by MBBS graduate doctors who have appeared forthe NEET – PG 2021 and have participated in the ongoing counsellingprocess for 2021-2022. Their grievance pertains to the schedule whichhas been prescribed by the National Board of Examinations[1] for holdingthe NEET-PG 2022 examination. The NBE issued a notification on 4February 2022 by which it scheduled the NEET-PG 2022 examinationon 21 May 2022. The petitioners seek the issuance of a direction for :

(i) Quashing the notification dated 4 February 2022 issued bythe NBE;

(ii) Postponement of the NEET-PG 2022 examination;

(iii) Notification of a fresh date for the examination after a periodof eight weeks so that in the meantime the issue of counsellingfor the NEET-PG 2021 examination gets resolved and thereis no overlap of the former with the NEET-PG 2022examination; and

(iv) A direction to the respondents to permit students who haveparticipated in the counselling for the NEET-PG 2021examination to register for the NEET-PG 2022 examinationby extending the last date for registration which was 25 March2022.

2. We have heard Mr Rakesh Khanna, Mr Anand Grover andMr P Wilson, senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners.Ms Aishwarya Bhati, Additional Solicitor General has appeared on behalfof the respondents.

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A3. In view of the urgency of the issue, it has been taken up forfinal disposal on the basis of the submissions which have been placed onthe record by counsel appearing on either side.

4. The NEET-PG examination for 2022-2023 is due to be held on21 May 2022. Registration for the ensuing examination was closed onB25 March 2022. The grievance of the petitioners is that they have notbeen allowed a fair opportunity to participate, which violates theirfundamental rights particularly under Articles 14 and 21 of the Constitution.The following tabulation has been placed on the record to highlight thenature of the grievance:

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5. The second column of the above chart indicates the course ofevents in the NEET-PG 2021 entrance examination. The first round ofGcounselling took place between 12 and 22 January 2022. The secondround took place between 3 February to 12 February 2022 and wasextended up to 18 February 2022. Thereafter, mop up/stray rounds havetaken place up to 7 May 2022. The States are holding their counsellingsessions till 12 May 2022. The NEET-PG 2022 examination was originallyHscheduled for 12 March 2022 but was postponed due to a clash with the DR R. DINESH KUMAR REDDY v. MEDICAL COUNSELLINGCOMMITTEE (MCC) [DR DHANANJAYA Y CHANDRACHUD, J.]

counselling dates for NEET-PG 2021. This was noticed in a judgment ofthis Court in Shivam Satyarthee and Others vs Union of India andOthers[2]. In paragraph 4 of the judgment, this Court observed:

“One of the grounds on which the petition under Article 32 of theConstitution was instituted was that there was a likely clashbetween the schedule of counselling for NEET-PG 2021-22 andthe NEET-PG examination for the ensuing academic year. Thisaspect of the matter has now been resolved as a result of thepostponement of the NEET-PG examination.”

6. The new date for NEET-PG 2022 has been fixed as 21 May2022. The results for the examination are expected on 20 June 2022.Senior counsel appearing on behalf of the petitioners urged that thepetitioners are doctors who have rendered COVID duties in the pasttwo years and were participating in the counselling process followingthe NEET-PG 2021 entrance examination and that process was to endon 12 May 2022. However, the stray round of counselling is yet to takeplace. It has been submitted that an extension of about two months maybe granted for conducting the NEET-PG 2022 for the ensuing academicyear. Counsel submitted that representations have been made by thedoctors similarly circumstanced and if an extension is granted, this wouldcause no prejudice to the Union Government while at the same timewould provide the petitioners and similarly placed candidates as well asthose doctors who have registered, additional time to study for the ensuingexamination.

7. Mr P Wilson, senior counsel has placed reliance on a publicnotice dated 5 May 2022 issued by the National Medical Commission[3]which intimated all medical colleges and institutes that the last date forfilling information relating to admissions made for Post Graduate (Broadand Super Specialty courses) for 2021-2022 on the NMC portal wasextended to 9 May 2022.

8. Ms Aishwarya Bhati, Additional Solicitor General has whileopposing the submissions urged that:

(i) The issue as to whether the NEET-PG 2022 entranceexamination was to be postponed was a matter of seriousdeliberation in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. A

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3 “NMC”

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812SUPREME COURT REPORTS

Aconscious decision was taken on 10 May 2021 againstpostponing the examination for reasons bearing on publicinterest and the needs of medical education;

(ii) Any delay in conducting the NEET-PG 2022 examinationwould impact the patient care since this would lead to a fewerBnumber of resident doctors in hospitals. There are supposedto be three batches of doctors who are studying for PGcourses and are available for patient care and treatment inmedical college hospitals. However, only two batches arecurrently available because of the delay in conducting theexamination and any further postponement will be have aCcascading effect on patient care, treatment and other ancillarymatters;

(iii) The number of doctors who have registered for NEET-PGbetween the period 2019-2020 and 2022-2023 is indicated inthe following table:

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(iv) The NEET-PG 2022-2023 examination is scheduled to be heldin January 2023. Adhering to the current schedule for theFNEET-PG 2022 will allow the Union Government to put theschedule back on track which was disturbed thus far due tothe onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.

(v) The schedule has to be consistent with the order of this Courtin Dr Ashish Ranjan and Others vs Union of India andGOthers[4]. In Dr Ashish Ranjan (supra), the National MedicalCommission[5] moved this Court for its approval of the timeschedule for NEET-PG, which was granted on 9 May 2022;and 4 Writ Petition (Civil) No 76 of 2015 dated 18.01.2016H5 “NMC”

(vi) The Public Notice of the NMC dated 5 May 2022 did notextend the time for completing admissions and as a matter offact, admissions have been closed on 7 May 2022.

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9. While considering the rival submissions, it must be noted at theoutset that the academic session has been delayed by a period of fourmonths when compared with the schedule which has been prescribedBby this Court by its order dated 18 January 2016 in Dr Ashish Ranjan(supra). The schedule which has been prescribed by the order of thisCourt is tabulated below:

“Time Schedule for completion of Admission Processfor PG (Broad Specialty) Medical Courses for AllIndia Quota and State Quota C

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10. The original schedule for NEET-PG 2022-2023 was in thefollowing terms:

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D11. The above schedule had to be revised due to the exigenciescaused by the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020-2021. The revised schedulefor NEET-PG 2022-2023 is set out below:

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12. The petitioners and other similarly placed doctors haveparticipated in the counseling process for NEET-PG 2021. They werenot barred from registering for NEET-PG 2022. The registration forNEET-PG 2022 for the ensuing year had closed on 25 March 2022. AsGmany as 2,06,541 doctors have registered for the ensuing examination.The submission of the petitioners that a postponement of the examinationwill cause no prejudice to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfareis specious. It must be borne in mind is that there is a large number ofstudent - doctors who have registered for the entrance test. Over twolakh students have registered for the ensuing examination and their H

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schedule would be seriously affected if a further postponement is grantedunder a direction of this Court. Postponement of exams results in chaosand uncertainty. During the onslaught of the Covid waves, postponementsmay have been granted by the administering authorities since we wereconfronted with an unprecedented human crisis. This should not becomethe norm. Doing so will disturb the sanctity of medical education. As thecountry gets back on the rails after the dislocation which was causeddue to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is necessary that the decision whichhas been taken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare ofadhering to the time schedule must be accepted. An importantconsideration which has weighed in the decision not to postpone theNEET-PG 2022 examination is that any delay in conducting theexamination will lead to a fewer number of resident doctors in hospitals.Currently, only two batches of resident doctors are available because ofthe delay in holding the NEET-PG examination, resulting in seriousdeficiency in the required strength of doctors in hospitals. This impactspatient care and results in back-breaking loads of work for the existingdoctors. Their quality of life, dignity and well-being are also of concern.

13. In this backdrop, while the request which has been made bythe petitioners for a further postponement of the NEET-PG examinationmay seem innocuous from their perspective, it cannot be entertained forthe reason that this would seriously impact the availability of patientcare and qualified post-graduate doctors. It is likely to have a cascadingeffect on patient care and on the careers of those doctors who havealready registered in large numbers for the ensuing examination.

14. The concern of the petitioners who have participated in thecounselling process for NEET-PG 2021-22 and will now have toimmediately undertake the exam for NEET-PG 2022-23 isunderstandable. However, these matters essentially pertain to the policydomain. Unless the Court is satisfied that the decision which has beentaken by the authorities is without application of mind to relevantcircumstances or was manifestly arbitrary, there would no reason forthe Court to interfere. Postponement of any examination is replete withserious consequences. While one body of the students may be interestedin seeking a postponement, there will be a large number of other studentswho have registered for the examination. Above all, the needs of patientcare and treatment must be paramount in the clash of rival interestsbetween those doctors who have registered for the ensuing examination AB

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Aand those who have not registered. Balancing of priorities in administrationis a difficult task. The task is entrusted to the executive and not to courts.Hence, in our considered view, the reliefs which have been sought inthese proceedings cannot be granted.

15. The petition shall accordingly stand dismissed.

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Ankit GyanWrit Petition dismissed.(Assisted by : Rahul Rathi, LCRA)

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