In a dramatic turn in the NEET-UG fake-certificate scandal in the Madhya Pradesh, the Supreme Court on Monday confronted the State with a pointed question, “Wouldn’t a higher-merit student get heartburn seeing a lower-merit candidate get a better seat?”, but it refused to entertain a plea, citing risk of 'creating chaos.'

The query came from a Bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai, Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice N.V. Anjaria, which heard the urgent plea of 18-year-old Jiya Jain, who challenged the diversion of fraud-vacated MBBS seats to lower-ranked candidates.

The petitioner argued that forged freedom fighter, government seat and PWD (Public Works Dept) certificates had enabled ineligible students to take high-value MBBS seats, which later became vacant once FIRs were filed and admissions were cancelled.

The petitioner, Jiya Jain, was represented by Senior Advocate Devadatt Kamat, along with Advocates Abhay Anturkar, Rajesh G. Inamdar and Shashwat Anand.

Responding to the Court’s sharp question on merit being compromised, the counsel for the State and the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) submitted that Jain was not the only one affected.

“There may be numerous higher-ranked candidates similarly situated who had already opted for other colleges and are equally barred,” the State argued.

They relied heavily on Rule 13 of the MP Medical Education Admission Rules, which prohibits candidates from re-entering counselling or shifting seats once allotted, contending that relaxing it now would “create complete chaos”.

The SLP, filed through Advocates Rajesh G. Inamdar and Shashwat Anand, also challenged the constitutional validity of Rule 13, arguing that it unfairly penalises meritorious candidates for fraud committed by others, and insulates administrative incompetence from judicial scrutiny.

While the Bench appeared sympathetic to the inherent unfairness of lower-merit candidates walking away with premium seats, it ultimately agreed with the State and DME that modifying Rule 13 mid-cycle would lead to a breakdown of counselling discipline, as it held that any relaxation at this stage would "create chaos” and refused to entertain the petition.

The order effectively means that the seats vacated due to fake certificates and FIR-triggered cancellations may now be allotted to lower-merit candidates, reinforcing concerns raised by students and experts about the integrity of the NEET-UG counselling framework.

The fallout of the MP NEET fraud may, therefore, end with no remedy for higher-rank candidates displaced by forged documents, despite top MBBS seats lying vacant because of those very frauds.

The top court eventually declined to entertain the plea.