Hyderabad: Telangana high court has sought responses from the govt of India, National Medical Commission and medical counselling committee in a petition seeking directions to conduct a mop-up counselling round to fill 377 postgraduate medical seats likely to remain vacant in Telangana for the 2025-26 academic year.The directions were issued while hearing a petition filed by the Telangana private medical and dental college managements association, which challenged the failure of authorities to extend the deadline for admissions to postgraduate medical courses. According to the association, around 2,500 seats were lying vacant across the country, while 377 PG medical seats in Telangana, including 125 under the competent authority quota and 252 under the management quota, remained unfilled after completion of the existing rounds of counselling. A bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, while hearing the petition on March 10, said that the issue relating to reduction of percentile score for participating in counselling for PG admissions was pending before the Supreme Court. The bench observed that the matter would be taken up after the authorities explained their position and after the outcome of the case pending before the apex court. The case has been posted to March 26 for further hearing. Petitioner’s counsel K Vivek Reddy submitted that despite representations to the authorities, including the medical counselling committee and Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences, no decision had been taken to extend the admission schedule or conduct an additional round of counselling, resulting in wastage of valuable medical seats and national resources. Extension of timeThe counsel further submitted that the request had been forwarded by the state govt and that the university had also sought an extension of time from the medical counselling committee to conduct an additional round of counselling to fill the remaining vacancies in the larger interests of candidates. Relying on several rulings of the Supreme Court, the petitioners contended that courts had repeatedly emphasised that medical seats should not be allowed to go vacant when eligible candidates are available. While the Union govt submitted that the issue relating to reduction of percentile score for participating in counselling was pending before the apex court, counsel for the NMC opposed the petition.Citing precedent rulings, the commission’s counsel contended that courts had consistently held that continuous rounds of counselling cannot be permitted as it violates the prescribed time schedule. Just because some seats are going vacant, this continuous exercise cannot be permitted, and it will also be detrimental to the entire course, the counsel added.
