NEET PG Cut-Off Row: ‘Will it be in public interest to leave the seats vacant?’ Delhi HC dismisses plea

“Will it be in public interest to leave the seats vacant? No, we will not permit that,” the bench remarked.

Read | NEET PG 2026 Row: With cut-off lowered to ‘minus 40’ to fill 18,000 vacant seats, doctors warn of falling standards

The court noted that the only contention raised was that lowering the cut-off would allow less competent MBBS graduates to pursue postgraduate studies. “What is the purpose of granting higher education? The purpose is to make them more skilled in an area. This examination does not ipso facto judge the quality of a doctor,” it said.

The bench further observed that NEET PG merely “sorts” MBBS graduates — who are already qualified to practise allopathy — for admission to specialised courses, which candidates must eventually pass to obtain a degree.

Appearing for the respondent authorities, counsel submitted that existing regulations allow the cut-off to be lowered to fill vacant seats in a given academic year by expanding the pool of eligible candidates. He informed the court that thousands of postgraduate medical seats remained vacant across the country after the second round of counselling, and a reduced cut-off would enable candidates lower in the merit list to opt for streams that are otherwise less preferred.

The third round of counselling, conducted pursuant to the lowered cut-off, is currently underway, he added, noting that a similar petition filed in the Supreme Court is yet to be listed.

Earlier this month, the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) revised the qualifying percentiles for NEET PG 2025-26 admissions, citing over 18,000 vacant postgraduate medical seats nationwide. The cut-off for reserved category candidates was reduced from the 40th percentile to zero, allowing even candidates with negative scores — up to minus 40 out of 800 — to participate in the third round of counselling. For the general category, the qualifying percentile was lowered from 50 to seven, according to an NBEMS notice.

Meanwhile, a separate PIL filed in the Supreme Court last week challenges the NBEMS decision and the Medical Counselling Committee’s January 13 notice lowering the thresholds to what petitioners describe as “abnormally low levels.” The plea, accessed by The Indian Express, argues that the move prioritises filling vacant seats over maintaining minimum standards of merit and competence in medical education.

The petition contends that postgraduate medical education cannot be treated as a commercial exercise and warns that diluting eligibility criteria undermines the purpose of a competitive examination, with potential consequences for patient safety and public health.