State Of U.P. vs Bhavna Tiwari 2025 INSC 747 - NEET - Seat Blocking
NEET - Seat Blocking - Seat Blocking in NEET-PG counselling occurs when candidates temporarily accept seats, only to abandon them later after securing more preferred options. This leads to those seats remaining unavailable in earlier rounds and opening up only in later stages, disadvantaging higher-ranked aspirants, who may have already committed to less preferred choices. Delays in state counselling, last-minute seat additions or deletions, and lack of coordination between quotas worsen the issue. As a result, lower-ranked candidates can secure better seats by taking risks, while merit-based selection is undermined. (Para 8) - This malpractice distorts the actual availability of seats, fosters inequity among aspirants, and often reduces the process to one governed more by chance than merit. Seat blocking is not merely an isolated wrongdoing – it reflects deeper systemic flaws rooted in fragmented governance, lack of transparency, and weak policy enforcement. (Para 7) Directions issued: (i) Implement a Nationally synchronized counselling calendar to align AIQ and State rounds and prevent seat blocking across systems. (ii) Mandate Pre-Counselling Fee Disclosure by all private / deemed universities, detailing tuition, hostel, caution deposit, and miscellaneous charges. (iii) Establish a Centralized Fee Regulation Framework under the National Medical Commission (NMC) (iv) Permit upgrade windows post-round 2 for admitted candidates to shift to better seats without reopening counselling to new entrants. (v) Publish raw scores, answer keys and normalization formulae for transparency in multi-shift NEET-PG exams. (vi) Enforce strict penalties for seat blocking including forfeiture of security deposit, disqualification from future NEET-PG exams (for repeat offenders), blacklisting of complicit colleges. (vii) Implement Aadhaar-based seat tracking to prevent multiple seat holdings and misrepresentation. (viii) Hold state authorities and institutional DMEs accountable under contempt or disciplinary action for rule or schedule violations. (ix) Adopt a Uniform Counselling Conduct Code across all States for standard rules on eligibility, mop-up rounds, seat withdrawal, and grievance timelines. (x) Set up a third-party oversight mechanism under NMC for annual audits of counselling data, compliance, and admission fairness. (Para 16)
