Supreme Court: Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association Seeks Return of All Vacant NEET-SS In-Service Seats to State

August 4, 2026 : The Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association has approached the Supreme Court seeking modification of its July 28, 2026 order concerning the allocation of unfilled NEET Super Speciality (NEET-SS) seats reserved for in-service doctors in the State. The Association has urged the Court to direct that all vacant super speciality seats remaining after the second round of counselling be returned to the Government of Tamil Nadu, instead of only 50 per cent, so they can be allotted to eligible in-service medical officers.

Earlier, on July 28, a Bench comprising Justice P.S. Narasimha and Justice Alok Aradhe directed the State Government to surrender 151 super speciality seats to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) for inclusion in the second round of All India Quota (AIQ) counselling. The Court further ordered that counselling should proceed on the existing NEET-SS qualifying percentile. However, it held that if the qualifying percentile is lowered after the second round, only half of the remaining vacant seats would be returned to Tamil Nadu, while the other half would continue to remain with the DGHS.

Challenging this part of the order, the Association has filed an interlocutory application in the pending writ petition, contending that the 151 seats exclusively belong to Tamil Nadu’s 50 per cent in-service reservation quota, introduced through Government Order (G.O.) Ms. No. 462 dated November 7, 2020. The constitutional validity of this reservation policy was upheld by the Supreme Court in Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association v. Union of India (2021).

The Association has argued that the DGHS has no permanent right or ownership over these seats. According to the plea, the transfer of unfilled seats to the DGHS is merely a temporary arrangement evolved by the Supreme Court in N. Karthikeyan & Others v. State of Tamil Nadu to prevent seats from remaining vacant when no eligible in-service candidates are available.

It has further submitted that the DGHS does not acquire any legal right, title or lien over these seats. Referring to the 2024-25 academic session, the Association pointed out that all 58 seats left vacant after the second round of All India Quota counselling were returned to the State, reflecting the consistent practice followed in previous years.

According to the application, the direction contained in paragraph 4 of the July 28 order, which allows the DGHS to retain 50 per cent of the remaining vacant seats after the qualifying percentile is lowered, departs from this established practice and adversely affects eligible in-service doctors.

As a limited relief, the Association has requested the Supreme Court to modify paragraph 4 of its earlier order and direct that all unfilled seats should revert to the State of Tamil Nadu if the qualifying percentile is reduced after the second round of counselling. It has also prayed that eligible in-service candidates be permitted to participate in the third round or mop-up round of counselling for these seats after the revised qualifying percentile is announced.

The application also highlights that since 2022, the Supreme Court has consistently allowed Tamil Nadu to continue its 50 per cent reservation for in-service doctors in super speciality medical courses. While the Court had earlier permitted the 151 vacant seats to be temporarily filled through the All India Merit List, the present plea seeks to ensure that any seats remaining vacant after the second round ultimately return to the State, preserving the benefit of the in-service reservation policy.