Education and people's health can't be compromised: Supreme Court

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday said there has to be a limit to the stray round of counselling for All India Quota in NEET-PG-21 and the students cannot be given admission by compromising the education and the health of people. The observation was made by a vacation bench of Justices M R Shah and Aniruddha Bose which reserved its order for Friday on a batch of petitions seeking a special stray round of counselling to fill the 1,456 seats in NEET-PG-21 that have remained vacant after the conduct of a stray round of counselling for All India Quota.

"Special stray rounds, special stray rounds- there must be a limit. For many years, the seats have remained vacant and it is not for the very first time. There must be a limit to the entire exercise. Merely because some seats have been left vacant after 8-9 rounds of counselling can you say you will be given admission after one-and-half years in a three-year course compromising with the education and the health of people? Try to appreciate this is a three-year course," the bench observed while concluding the hearing.

When the hearing commenced, the apex court asked Additional Solicitor General Balbir Singh, appearing for the Centre, not to treat the petitions as adversarial litigation. "Don't treat and consider it as an adversarial litigation and don't stand on the technicalities. It is a question of 1,400 medical seats. They are post-graduate (PG) seats. Government wants doctors also. Government wants doctors with PG also. Government wants super speciality doctors also. We have a dearth of doctors… They can serve the nation. And these 1,400 seats cannot be said to be a small number of seats," the bench said.

The bench said the Centre cannot take a technical ground and say that since the website is closed nothing can be done. "We are not only concerned with the students. We are concerned with the nation as a whole. When the nation, our country is getting 1,400 super-specialist doctors, then it will be in the larger public interest also. Suppose these posts are unfilled, how will the medical council or the government will be benefitted? You tell us," the bench said. "Instead of fighting, you try to find a solution and a way. How it can be cured and this problem can be solved," the bench observed.