The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association has moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its July 28 order directing that only 50% of the unfilled super specialty medical seats be reverted to the State if the NEET-SS qualifying percentile is reduced after the second round of counselling. The Association has sought a direction that all the remaining unfilled seats should instead revert to Tamil Nadu for allotment to eligible in-service candidates.

The application seeks modification of the order which it directed that if the State decides to lower the qualifying percentage to fit 151 super speciality medical seats after the second round of counselling, then 50% of that should go to the Directorate General of Health Services(DGHS).

The application has been filed in the pending writ petition concerning 151 unfilled super specialty seats earmarked for in-service candidates in Tamil Nadu. According to the petitioners, these seats form part of the State's 50% reservation for in-service doctors under G.O. Ms. No. 462 dated November 7, 2020, a policy whose constitutional validity was upheld by the Supreme Court in Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association v. Union of India (2021).

On July 28, a bench comprising Justice PS Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe passed an order to revert 151 such seats to the DGHS by July 29 for the second round of All India Quota counselling. It stated that the counselling should be held at the existing qualifying percentile. If, however, a decision is made to lower the qualifying percentile after round two, 50% of the remaining unfilled seats would revert to the State, while the remaining would be retained by the DGHS.

The Association has filed an interlocutory application stating that the 151 seats belong exclusively to the State's in-service quota. It has stated that the DGHS receives such seats only under a temporary arrangement envisaged in N. Karthikeyan & Ors. v. State of Tamil Nadu, to prevent wastage of seats where no eligible in-service candidate is available. However, no right, title or lien over the in-service seats is acquired by the DGHS. Various precedents have been cited, such as that in academic session 2024-25, all 58 seats which remained after the second round of the All India Quota counselling were returned to the State.

"The direction in paragraph 4, to the extent it retains 50% of the unfilled seats with the DGHS, is thus a departure from the settled and uniform practice followed in all the years since this counselling arrangement has been in operation," as stated in the application.

As a limited prayer, it has been sought that the order in paragraph 4 to be modified to direct that the counselling shall be conducted on the same percentile and if, after the second round of counselling, a decision is to be taken to reduce the percentile, then the remaining unfilled seats shall be reverted in their entirety to the State of Tamil Nadu to be filled up by eligible in-service candidates as per the 2020 G.O.

It may be noted that since 2022, the Supreme Court has allowed the State 50% in-service quota for SS seats. In June, the Court passed an order directing that the 151 vacant SS seats could be filled through the All India Merit List. Following this order, the present application was filed by the Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association (and another) seeking to restrain the State from surrendering 151 vacant SS seats in colleges within the State to the All India Quota.

The petitioners further prayed that in-service candidates in Tamil Nadu be permitted to compete for the said 151 seats in the 3rd round or a mop-up round if percentile is reduced below 50% after the 2nd round of all-India counselling.

Case Details: TAMIL NADU MEDICAL OFFICERS ASSOCIATION & ANR v UOI|WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 771 OF 2026

Filed through AoR Anuradha Arputham