Overview
- A bench of Justices P. S. Narasimha and Alok Aradhe issued notice to the Union government, NBEMS, NMC and MCC on a PIL challenging the drastic relaxation.
- The NBEMS notification cut the general category threshold to the 7th percentile and set reserved categories at zero, with reports that candidates with negative scores could qualify.
- Officials have pointed to more than 18,000 vacant postgraduate seats and the need to fill them in a third counselling round as the reason for lowering the bar.
- The petition asserts violations of Articles 14 and 21 and cites the NMC Act, arguing the move arbitrarily dilutes standards and changes eligibility after results and two counselling rounds.
- The court sought responses within a week and listed the matter for further hearing, with differing reports on whether the next date is February 6 or February 13.