NEET SS 2025 Seats Likely to Return to Tamil Nadu After Supreme Court Hearing
The Centre has told the Supreme Court that unfilled NEET Super Speciality 2025 seats may be returned to Tamil Nadu after the second counselling round while the debate over in-service reservation still continues.
The Supreme Court has once again heard the dispute over NEET SS 2025 seats in Tamil Nadu. The centre told the court on Thursday that some seats were still vacant after the second round of counselling. It said an extra round of counselling may be held and that all unfilled seats may be returned to Tamil Nadu. This could also make it clear that no decision has been taken yet to lower the qualifying percentile.
What the Centre Told the Supreme Court
A bench of justices PS Narasimha and Alok Arandhe noted that the flight over NEET SS 2025 seats has continued for too long. The judges questioned how long this issue could go and adjourned the matter to Tuesday so the Centre could take a final stand. Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi who appeared for Tamil Nadu welcomed the centre's move. He said it was good that the seats were coming back to the state but added that lowering the percentile would also help. In an order passed on July 28, 2026 the court had said counselling should continue on the same percentile and the questions if reducing it could be considered after the second round. The order had said 50 percent of unfilled seats would return to Tamil Nadu and 50 percent would be filled through further DGHS counselling. The centre has now indicated that it may give all unfilled seats back to Tamil Nadu instead of only half.
Why The Seat Dispute Started
The Tamil Nadu government had first refused to surrender 151 unfilled super speciality seats to the central pool. It wanted to keep them for in service doctors who work in government service and often serve in rural areas. Senior advocate P Wilson said this policy serves a public purpose and should not be weakened. But the Centre and the National Medical Commission opposed any reservation in super speciality courses. They said these seats are very limited and must be filled only on merit. The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association also moved the court to stop the transfer of these 151 seats to the All India Quota. The doctors said they joined counseling with the expectation that in service seats would remain open till the process ended. The centre blamed Tamil Nadu for delaying NEET SS 2025 counselling and referred to the 2022 N Kartkeyan case which required such seats to be surrendered to AIQ. Tamil Nadu replied it had already introduced a 50 percent quota for in service doctors in 2020 in government medical colleges.
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