On September 22, Thursday, the Madhya Pradesh High Court quashed the state government's recommendations for the In-Service Doctors for PG-Medical Course Counselling for the Session 2022-23. It was alleged that the government has not included many government doctors and medical officers in the merit list.

The doctors, who had served in the district hospitals of the state, were excluded for the 30% In-Service Reservation compartment. They were eligible when the NEET examination took place, but after results were declared and when the provisional merit list was released, their names were not included. The State Government amended the Medical Admission Rules thereafter on July 26, 2022 to make this exclusion, as per a report by LiveLaw.in.

The doctors challenged this decision, stating that the government could not do so as the counselling process has started. The matter reached the High Court. The court in turn, in its detailed judgement, held the amendment to the rules, stating that they were introduced mid-way in the selection process. However, the court added that the rules would apply from the next academic year.

The court has asked the state government to prepare a fresh merit list of eligible candidates. A fresh round of counselling would also be conducted, as per the court's directions.

There were about 30-35 petitioners in the matter. They were represented by Advocates Siddharth R Gupta and Aditya Sanghi, whilst the State was represented through KC Ghildiyal, Senior Advocate, Rohan Harne and Janhavi Pandit, as per LiveLaw.in.