SC is concerned since 454 seats are still available after the INI-CET open round of counseling has terminated.

The petition asks that the Centre and other parties, including AIIMS, be instructed to conduct the remaining INI-CET counselling sessions as soon as possible.

The open round of INI-CET counselling has come to an end, leaving 454 spots in medical programmes empty. The Supreme Court expressed concern over this on Thursday.

The Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET) is required for admission to select All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and other medical schools’ Post Graduate (PG)

While hearing a plea, a bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka noted that INI-CET is administered by AIIMS, New Delhi, and that a notification was given by the top medical institute on September 19 this year indicating its decision to cancel the open round for INI-CET July 2022 session.

“What bothers us is that the cancellation of the open round has resulted in 454 seats being vacant,” the bench stated orally, adding, “we do feel that seats should not go unfilled.”

The AIIMS stated in an affidavit filed with the Supreme Court that the process of admission using INI-CET was completed on August 31, 2022.

According to the report, three of the five petitioners were assigned and offered seats in the second round.

“It is respectfully argued that the petitioners, having borne the consequences of their own bad decision making, cannot now demand an additional round of INI-CET counselling as a matter of right,” it stated.

The petition requests that the Centre and others, including AIIMS, organise the remaining rounds of INI-CET counselling as soon as possible.

Senior counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan and lawyer Tanvi Dubey represented the petitioners, who included three MBBS graduates.