The Allahabad High Court dismissed a PIL challenging NBEMS’s decision to lower NEET-PG 2025 cut-off marks for SC/ST/OBC candidates, including allowing counselling at minus 40 marks. The Court noted that the issue is a policy decision, already rejected by the Delhi High Court and pending before the Supreme Court.
The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that challenged the decision of the National Board of Examinations in Medical Sciences (NBEMS) to allow counselling for SC, ST and OBC candidates who scored minus 40 marks out of 800 in NEET-PG 2025.
A Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Arun Bhansali and Justice Kshitij Shailendra rejected the PIL filed by advocate Abhinav Gaur, holding that the issue did not warrant interference by the Court.
During the hearing, the Bench was informed that the Delhi High Court had already dismissed a similar PIL on the same issue, observing that the decision taken by the examining authority was a matter of policy and outside the scope of judicial intervention.
The Court was also told that another petition raising similar concerns is currently pending before the Supreme Court of India.
The petitioner had argued that the decision taken by NBEMS was unconstitutional and violated Article 16 of the Constitution, which guarantees equal opportunity in public employment. According to the plea, reducing the qualifying marks so drastically compromises fairness and equality in the selection process.
The PIL further challenged the decision on the ground that such a steep reduction in the cut-off marks for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Postgraduate) 2025, or NEET-PG, would weaken the sanctity of a merit-based selection system for postgraduate medical admissions.
ALSO READ: NEET-PG 2024 || Supreme Court Rejects Plea to Reconduct Counselling
It was pointed out in the petition that after more than 18,000 postgraduate medical seats remained vacant even after the second round of counselling, NBEMS had “drastically” lowered the qualifying criteria by fixing the cut-off score at minus 40 out of 800 for candidates belonging to the SC/ST/OBC categories.
The plea also highlighted that for the general (EWS) category, the cut-off marks were reduced from 276 to 103, while for the general-PwBD category, the qualifying marks were lowered from 255 to 90.
In the SC/ST/OBC category, the cut-off was brought down from 235 to -40, which, according to the PIL, could seriously affect public health and patient safety.
The petitioner argued that medical education requires a high level of academic competence and that lowering standards to such an extent could have long-term consequences for healthcare delivery in the country.
ALSO READ: NEET PG: Supreme Court to Hear Petitions Challenging Normalisation Process on May 22
The plea further claimed that allowing candidates who fail to meet a basic minimum academic threshold to enter postgraduate medical courses would ultimately impact the quality of doctors. This, the petitioner argued, would adversely affect the right to health and life guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution, as medical professionals play a crucial role in safeguarding public health.
Despite these arguments, the Allahabad High Court declined to interfere, noting the earlier dismissal by the Delhi High Court and the fact that the issue is already under consideration before the Supreme Court.
Click Here to Read More Reports On NEET-PG
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
