Supreme Court Modifies Compensation in NEET-PG Seat Blocking Case, Issues Reform Directions

The Supreme Court of India recently delivered a landmark judgment in the case of State of U.P. & Anr. vs. Miss Bhavna Tiwari & Ors., addressing critical issues surrounding NEET-PG admissions and seat blocking practices. The case, which originated from the 2017-18 NEET-PG counseling process in Uttar Pradesh, reached the Supreme Court after the Allahabad High Court awarded Rs. 10 lakh compensation each to two medical aspirants who were affected by seat blocking practices. The judgment, delivered by Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan on April 29, 2025, modified the High Court’s compensation order while issuing comprehensive directions to reform the medical admission process nationwide.

The dispute began when Bhavna Tiwari and Sonal Sharma, who had secured ranks 13979 and 11280 respectively in NEET-PG 2017-18, were denied the opportunity to participate in the mop-up round of counseling despite their high merit. While they had been allotted seats in Pathology and Pediatrics in the initial rounds, they discovered that more preferred Radiology seats were being given to less meritorious candidates in subsequent rounds due to widespread seat blocking – a practice where candidates temporarily accept seats only to abandon them later for better options.

The High Court, in its 2018 order, had noted that ‘80% of the seats were filled up in the mop up round’ and found serious flaws in the admission procedure. While acknowledging that admissions couldn’t be granted after the cutoff date, the High Court awarded Rs. 10 lakh compensation to each petitioner and directed sweeping reforms to prevent seat blocking in future admission cycles.

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In its judgment, the Supreme Court carefully examined the evolution of medical admission procedures through various judicial interventions and regulatory changes. The Court noted significant improvements made since 2018, including the introduction of security deposits, online counseling for all rounds, debarment provisions for seat vacating, and the expansion from two to four counseling rounds. The Court observed:

‘These reforms directly address the concerns raised by the High Court in the impugned order and ensure that meritorious students are not deprived of their rightful opportunities.’

While upholding the High Court’s concerns about seat blocking, the Supreme Court modified the compensation amount, reducing it from Rs. 10 lakh to Rs. 1 lakh for each respondent. The Court reasoned:

‘While the cause of the respondents in approaching the court was reasonable and in fact catalyzed significant reforms… the award of Rs.10,00,000/- each as compensation is found to be arbitrary and excessive.’

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The judgment included ten specific directions to further improve the admission process, including implementing a nationally synchronized counseling calendar, mandating pre-counseling fee disclosure, establishing centralized fee regulation, permitting upgrade windows, and enforcing strict penalties for seat blocking. These directions aim to create a more transparent, merit-based system for medical admissions across India.

Petitioner Name: State of U.P. & Another.
Respondent Name: Miss Bhavna Tiwari & Ors..
Judgment By: Justice J.B. Pardiwala, Justice R. Mahadevan.
Place Of Incident: Uttar Pradesh.
Judgment Date: 29-04-2025.
Result: partially allowed.

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