Case: Dr R. Dinesh Kumar Reddy &amp; Ors Vs. Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) &amp; Ors

and as a matter of fact, admissions have been closed on 7 May 2022. 9. While considering the rival submissions, it must be noted at the outset that the academic session has been delayed by a period of four months when compared with the schedule which has been prescribed by this Court by its order dated 18 January 2016 in Dr Ashish Ranjan (supra). The schedule which has been prescribed by the order of this Court is tabulated below: Time Schedule for completion of Admission Process for PG (Broad Specialty) Medical Courses for All India Quota and State Quota S. No. Schedule for admission Broad Specialty All India quota State quota 1 Conduct of Entrance Examination Month of December Month of January 2 Declaration of result of the qualifying Exam/Entrance Exam By 15th of January By 15th of February 3 1 st round of counselling/admission Between 12th March to 24th March Between 4th April to 15th April 4 Last date for joining/reporting the allotted college and the course By 3rd April By 22nd April 5 2 nd round of counselling/admission for vacancies Between 23rd April to 30th April Between 11th May to 20th May 6 Last date of joining for the 2nd round of counselling/admission By 10th May By 27th May 7 Commencement of the academic session/terms 1 st May 1 st May 8 Last date up to which students can be admitted/joined against vacancies arising due to any reason - By 31st May 10. The original schedule for NEET-PG 2022-2023 was in the following terms: Processes Timelines Availability of the Information Bulletin 15th January 2022 onwards Online submission of application 15th January 2022 (3 PM onwards) to 4th February 2022 (Till 11:55 PM) Edit window for all the candidates 8 th February 2022 to 11th February 2022 Final edit window to rectify deficient/incorrect images 1. Photograph 2. Signature 3. Thumb Impression 24th February 2022 to 27th February 2022 Issue of Admit Card 7 th March 2022 Examination Date 12th March 2022 Declaration of Result By 31 March 2022 11. The above schedule had to be revised due to the exigencies caused by the Covid-19 pandemic during 2020-2021. The revised schedule for NEET-PG 2022-2023 is set out below: Revised dates for online submission of the application form 15th January 2022 (3 PM onwards) to 25th March 2022 (Till 11:55 PM) Edit window for all the candidates 29th March 2022 to 7th April 2022 Final edit window to rectify deficient/incorrect images 26th April 2022 to 30th April 2022 Date of issuance of Admit Cards 16th May 2022 Date of Examination 21st May 2022 Declaration of Result By 20th June 2022 12. The petitioners and other similarly placed doctors have participated in the counseling process for NEET-PG 2021. They were not barred from registering for NEET-PG 2022. The registration for NEET-PG 2022 for the ensuing year had closed on 25 March 2022. As many as 2,06,541 doctors have registered for the ensuing examination. The submission of the petitioners that a postponement of the examination will cause no prejudice to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is specious. It must be borne in mind is that there is a large number of student - doctors who have registered for the entrance test. Over two lakh students have registered for the ensuing examination and their schedule would be seriously affected if a further postponement is granted under a direction of this Court. Postponement of exams results in chaos and uncertainty. During the onslaught of the Covid waves, postponements may have been granted by the administering authorities since we were confronted with an unprecedented human crisis. This should not become the norm. Doing so will disturb the sanctity of medical education. As the country gets back on the rails after the dislocation which was caused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is necessary that the decision which has been taken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of adhering to the time schedule must be accepted. An important consideration which has weighed in the decision not to postpone the NEET-PG 2022 examination is that any delay in conducting the examination will lead to a fewer number of resident doctors in hospitals. Currently, only two batches of resident doctors are available because of the delay in holding the NEET-PG examination, resulting in serious deficiency in the required strength of doctors in hospitals. This impacts patient care and results in back-breaking loads of work for the existing doctors. Their quality of life, dignity and wellbeing are also of concern. 13. In this backdrop, while the request which has been made by the petitioners for a further postponement of the NEET-PG examination may seem innocuous from their perspective, it cannot be entertained for the reason that this would seriously impact the availability of patient care and qualified post-graduate doctors. It is likely to have a cascading effect on patient care and on the careers of those doctors who have already registered in large numbers for the ensuing examination. 14. The concern of the petitioners who have participated in the counselling process for NEET-PG 2021-22 and will now have to immediately undertake the exam for NEET-PG 2022-23 is understandable. However, these matters essentially pertain to the policy domain. Unless the Court is satisfied that the decision which has been taken by the authorities is without application of mind to relevant circumstances or was manifestly arbitrary, there would no reason for the Court to interfere. Postponement of any examination is replete with serious consequences. While one body of the students may be interested in seeking a postponement, there will be a large number of other students who have registered for the examination. Above all, the needs of patient care and treatment must be paramount in the clash of rival interests between those doctors who have registered for the ensuing examination and those who have not registered. Balancing of priorities in administration is a difficult task. The task is entrusted to the executive and not to courts.

Court's decision (1 = petition accepted / positive for appellant, 0 = rejected / negative): 1

Reasoning from the judgment:
1[ds]5. The second column of the above chart indicates the course of events in the NEET-PG 2021 entrance examination. The first round of counselling took place between 12 and 22 January 2022. The second round took place between 3 February to 12 February 2022 and was extended up to 18 February 2022. Thereafter, mop up/stray rounds have taken place up to 7 May 2022. The States are holding their counselling sessions till 12 May 2022. The NEET-PG 2022 examination was originally scheduled for 12 March 2022 but was postponed due to a clash with the counselling dates for NEET-PG 2021. This was noticed in a judgment of this Court in Shivam Satyarthee and Others vs Union of India and Others 2022 SCS Online SC 492 . In paragraph 4 of the judgment, this Court observed:One of the grounds on which the petition under Article 32 of the Constitution was instituted was that there was a likely clash between the schedule of counselling for NEET-PG 2021-22 and the NEET-PG examination for the ensuing academic year. This aspect of the matter has now been resolved as a result of the postponement of the NEET-PG examination.6. The new date for NEET-PG 2022 has been fixed as 21 May 2022. The results for the examination are expected on 20 June 2022.12. The petitioners and other similarly placed doctors have participated in the counseling process for NEET-PG 2021. They were not barred from registering for NEET-PG 2022. The registration for NEET-PG 2022 for the ensuing year had closed on 25 March 2022. As many as 2,06,541 doctors have registered for the ensuing examination. The submission of the petitioners that a postponement of the examination will cause no prejudice to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare is specious. It must be borne in mind is that there is a large number of student - doctors who have registered for the entrance test. Over two lakh students have registered for the ensuing examination and their schedule would be seriously affected if a further postponement is granted under a direction of this Court. Postponement of exams results in chaos and uncertainty. During the onslaught of the Covid waves, postponements may have been granted by the administering authorities since we were confronted with an unprecedented human crisis. This should not become the norm. Doing so will disturb the sanctity of medical education. As the country gets back on the rails after the dislocation which was caused due to the Covid-19 pandemic, it is necessary that the decision which has been taken by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare of adhering to the time schedule must be accepted. An important consideration which has weighed in the decision not to postpone the NEET-PG 2022 examination is that any delay in conducting the examination will lead to a fewer number of resident doctors in hospitals. Currently, only two batches of resident doctors are available because of the delay in holding the NEET-PG examination, resulting in serious deficiency in the required strength of doctors in hospitals. This impacts patient care and results in back-breaking loads of work for the existing doctors. Their quality of life, dignity and wellbeing are also of concern.13. In this backdrop, while the request which has been made by the petitioners for a further postponement of the NEET-PG examination may seem innocuous from their perspective, it cannot be entertained for the reason that this would seriously impact the availability of patient care and qualified post-graduate doctors. It is likely to have a cascading effect on patient care and on the careers of those doctors who have already registered in large numbers for the ensuing examination.14. The concern of the petitioners who have participated in the counselling process for NEET-PG 2021-22 and will now have to immediately undertake the exam for NEET-PG 2022-23 is understandable. However, these matters essentially pertain to the policy domain. Unless the Court is satisfied that the decision which has been taken by the authorities is without application of mind to relevant circumstances or was manifestly arbitrary, there would no reason for the Court to interfere. Postponement of any examination is replete with serious consequences. While one body of the students may be interested in seeking a postponement, there will be a large number of other students who have registered for the examination. Above all, the needs of patient care and treatment must be paramount in the clash of rival interests between those doctors who have registered for the ensuing examination and those who have not registered. Balancing of priorities in administration is a difficult task. The task is entrusted to the executive and not to courts.