[NEET PG] Time Limit For Admissions Process Extended Till January 14, Director General Of Health Services Informs Madras High Court

The Director General of Health Services has informed the Madras High Court that it has extended the time limit for completing admissions to the various post-graduate courses through NEET till 14th January 2023. Earlier, the National Medical Commission had fixed December 2, 2022, as the date for completing the admission process.

Justice CV Karthikeyan was hearing petitions filed by two private medical colleges seeking directions to the Selection Committee to send a list of meritorious candidates from the State rank to fill up the vacant seats.

The petitioners had submitted that though December 2 was fixed as the date for completing the admission process, the same could not be completed during this time for no fault of the private colleges. The petitioners submitted that there was a delay on the part of the Selection Committee in finalizing the results of the mop-up counseling which in turn affected the entire schedule of the admissions.

Further, even when a stray vacancy counseling was conducted, the results were published only on December 2, and the students were given time only till 5 pm that same day to report at the concerned colleges, the court was told. The petitioners pointed out that many students could not participate in the process as they could not even access the results of the stray vacancy round and even if they got selected, they could not make the required payments on the very same day.

The petitioners also submitted that the merit list provided by the Selection Committee was arbitrary and unreasonable as they had only included the high-ranked meritorious candidates, who had already secured admission to other colleges. Owing to this, the seats in the petitioners' college were on the verge of going vacant. Thus, the petitioners approached the court to direct the Selection Committee to release the appropriate merit lists so that the admission process could be carried out smoothly.

During the pendency of the case, since the last date for completing the admission process had gotten over, the petitioners had requested the Director General of Health Services to extend the time limit for completing admissions. The petitioners informed the court that the DGHS has already permitted such an extension for All India Quota seats and requested that the extension be made applicable for the seats in the state quota also. 

The Director General of Health Services entered an appearance and orally informed the court that it had already extended the time limit for admissions for both All India Quota seats and the State Quota seats to 14th January 2023. 

Case Title: Dhanalakshi Srinivasan Medical College v. The State of Tamil Nadu and others

Case No: WP No. 33300 of 2022