Thu May 22 12:25:47 UTC 2025: **News Article:**

**Supreme Court Tackles Seat Blocking in NEET-PG Admissions, Mandates Transparency**

**New Delhi, May 22, 2025** – The Supreme Court of India has taken decisive action to combat widespread seat blocking in postgraduate medical admissions, issuing a landmark order aimed at fostering a fairer and more transparent system. The ruling, prompted by concerns over inequities and systemic flaws in the admission process, mandates pre-counselling fee disclosure by all private and deemed universities participating in NEET-PG.

A Bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan emphasized that seat blocking distorts the actual seat availability, disadvantaging deserving aspirants and turning the process into one driven by chance rather than merit. The court noted that regulatory bodies have introduced disincentives and technical controls, the core challenges of synchronisation, real-time visibility, and uniform enforcement remain largely unaddressed.

To address these issues, the Supreme Court has directed the implementation of a nationally synchronised counselling calendar aligning All India Quota and state rounds. Furthermore, all private and deemed universities must disclose complete pre-counselling fee details, including tuition, hostel, caution deposit, and miscellaneous charges. A centralized fee regulation framework under the National Medical Commission will also be established.

The court also ordered strict penalties for seat blocking, including forfeiture of security deposits, disqualification from future NEET-PG exams, and blacklisting of complicit colleges. The judgement also allows for upgrade windows post-round two for admitted candidates to shift to better seats without reopening counselling to new entrants. It also dictates the raw scores, answer keys and normalisation formulae need to be published for transparency.

The Supreme Court’s judgement arose from a plea filed by the Uttar Pradesh government challenging a 2018 Allahabad High Court order, which directed compensation for students aggrieved by seat blocking. This ruling signals a significant step towards a more equitable and transparent medical education system in India.

**Source:** The Hindu

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