SC troubled over 454 vacant seats after INI-CET counselling stopped

New Delhi: The Supreme Court said on Thursday it is "troubling" that 454 seats in medical courses have remained vacant because the open round of INI-CET counselling has stopped.

The Institute of National Importance Combined Entrance Test (INI-CET) is for admission to the Post Graduate (PG) courses of certain All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) and some other medical institutions.

A bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka observed this while hearing a petition which said INI-CET is conducted by AIIMS, New Delhi, and a notice was issued by the premier medical institute on September 19 this year conveying its decision to cancel the open round for INI-CET July 2022 session.

"What is troubling us is that stopping of the open round has resulted in 454 seats being vacant," the bench orally observed, adding, "we do feel that seats should not go vacant".

In an affidavit filed in the apex court, the AIIMS said the process of admission through INI-CET was closed on August 31, 2022.