New Delhi: The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) once again put the NEET 2018 counselling process on hold due to cases pending before the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay High Court, hours after the Supreme Court had stayed the Madras HC (Madurai Bench) orders to award 196 grace marks to Tamil Students.
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As per the latest notification issued on the official MCC website, it says “Counselling is kept in abeyance as per directions of Hon’ble High Court of Bombay Nagpur Bench in W.P. 3885/2018 and PIL No.87/2018”. The various NEET state counselling processes which had been delayed due to the Madras HC orders are now expected to be further postponed as a result of the Bombay HC cases.
Check the MCC notice released with regard to Writ Petition No. 3885/2018 pending before the Bombay HC below:
While it is currently unclear what the cases being heard before the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench) are, a perusal of the court orders available on the Bombay High Court website reveal that they are related to a Writ Petition filed by one Samiksha Raju Dhole, a NEET candidate from Maharashtra, and a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed by a body called the Akhil Bhartiya OBC Mahasangh, both presumably with regard to OBC reservations in ESIC seats available in MBBS and BDS courses through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).
The cases, last heard on July 19 by a two-member Bench of the Bombay High Court in Nagpur comprising Justices BP Dharmadhikari and ZA Haq, are now scheduled to be heard on July 26. It is expected that any further update on the 2018 NEET counselling process can only be expected after that date unless the CBSE once again decides to approach the Supreme Court for relief in the matter. There is however also a high possibility that given the already delayed state of the NEET counselling process, the Bombay High Court may be requested to consider an early hearing so that MCC has resumed the counselling procedure as soon as possible.
Social media websites are currently rife with rumours suggesting that the stay orders are to do with a Maharashtra candidate who had incorrectly filled her application form for state quota seats, that particular case however only concerns Maharashtra state admissions and do not concern the MCC counselling.
The announcement of the news that the Supreme Court had stayed the 10th July 2018 Madras HC order which had previously stayed the counselling process after ordering the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to award 196 grace marks to 24,720 candidates due to 49 erroneous questions in the Tamil version of the paper, candidates were eagerly awaiting the declaration of the NEET round two counselling result which had been on hold since July 12. The order of the supreme court came as a sigh of relief to the Board and to the students as well.
To know the supreme court verdict on Madras HC demand for 196 grace marks to the Tamil Students – Click Here
However, while the Board was granted a reprieve, the hopes of thousands of candidates soon turned to dismay after the MCC released two separate notices stating that the NEET counselling process had once again been stayed due to cases pending before the Bombay High Court’s Nagpur Bench.
The main reason for all such stay orders being issued by various state courts is due to presence of some gaps that are left unplugged by cbse, while conducting and declaring the NEET result.