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NEET-PG Row: Allahabad HC upholds cut-off relaxation for reserved categories

The court noted that the Delhi High Court had previously dismissed a similar PIL, stating it was a policy matter beyond judicial intervention.

3 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jan 29, 2026 09:42 AM IST

NEET PG Row: Allahabad HC upholds cut-off relaxation for reserved categories

Additionally, it was mentioned that another petition regarding this issue is currently pending before the Supreme Court. (Image: AI generated)

The Allahabad High Court dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on Tuesday that challenged the decision of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences. This decision allows counselling for SC, ST, and OBC students who scored minus 40 out of 800 in the NEET-PG 2025 exam. A two-judge bench, consisting of Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra, rejected the petition filed by advocate Abhinav Gaur.

The court noted that the Delhi High Court had previously dismissed a similar PIL, stating it was a policy matter beyond judicial intervention. Additionally, it was mentioned that another petition regarding this issue is currently pending before the Supreme Court.

Read | NEET PG 2026, MDS exam dates out

The petitioner argued that the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) decision was unconstitutional and violated Article 16 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal opportunity in public employment.

The plea challenged the decision to significantly lower the cut-off marks for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) 2025 (NEET-PG), arguing that such a reduction would compromise the integrity of a merit-based selection process.

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

The PIL highlighted that over 18,000 seats remained vacant after the second round of counseling, prompting the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to drastically reduce the qualifying criteria. The new cut-off score for the SC/ST/OBC category has been set at minus 40 out of 800.

Additionally, the petition noted that the cut-off for the general (EWS) category was decreased from 276 to 103, while the general-PwBD category saw a reduction from 255 to 90. For the SC/ST/OBC category, the cut-off was lowered from 235 to minus 40, which the PIL argued would negatively impact public health and patient safety—issues of significant public concern that require a high level of academic precision.

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The plea further claimed that allowing doctors who do not meet the minimum qualification threshold to take the examination would violate the rights to health and life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, NEET PG 2025 counselling (round 3) is currently underway. The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) will announce the seat allotment results on January 29, 2026. The results will be published online in PDF format, and candidates must download them from the official MCC website.

The registration window for round 3 counselling closed earlier on January 29, while the updated seat matrix was released on January 23, 2026. Stay tuned here for the latest updates on NEET PG 2025 round 3 counselling.