The decision, recorded in a note filed before a bench headed by Justice P.S. Narasimha, aims to prevent the 1,857 super‑speciality seats that remain vacant after the second round of NEET‑SS counselling from staying empty, and to make better use of the training capacity through a Special Stray Vacancy Round.
Tamil Nadu was represented by senior advocate A.M. Singhvi, Additional Advocate General Prashanto Chandra Sen and advocate Rupali Samuel, while the petitioner – the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association – was led by senior advocate P. Wilson, who had asked for a zero‑cut‑off percentile reduction, as had been applied in the previous two years.
The Centre, through Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, argued that lowering the cut‑off to the 30th percentile would expand the eligible pool to roughly 6,000 candidates, allowing the vacant seats to be offered only to those who had not secured a seat in earlier counselling rounds.
The government also noted that upgradation – the process of moving candidates from an earlier allotment to a later one – had been permitted in the first two counselling rounds, but allowing further upgradation after the academic session began could cause disruptions, with seats being vacated again and potentially remaining unfilled.
In compliance with Supreme Court orders, the Centre will revert the 40 vacant in‑service seats to the Tamil Nadu government for a one‑week stray vacancy round, giving the state a limited window to allocate those seats to its own in‑service doctors, many of whom serve in rural areas.
If the special stray vacancy round proceeds as planned, the combined effect of the lower percentile and the returned seats could enable more in‑service doctors to receive specialised training while ensuring that the super‑speciality seats are filled before the next counselling cycle.