In Brief
The Education Promotion Society for India sought an extension of counselling time for postgraduate medical courses, citing that over 1,000 seats lay vacant across medical colleges and deemed universities. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition, holding that vacant seats alone do not justify extending the prescribed time schedule. The Court noted that the vast majority of vacant seats (95%) were in non-clinical subjects, which naturally remain unfilled because doctors rarely pursue postgraduate studies in such fields. Strict adherence to fixed schedules is essential to prevent irregularities in medical college admissions. Extensions, when granted in past cases, were specific to individual institutions or states, not blanket orders, and extension beyond the mopup round deadline was impermissible."
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