NEET for AYUSH Admissions: Bombay HC refuses to reduce percentile; puts plea on hold

Mumbai: The Bombay High Court (HC) has refused to reduce the NEET percentile requirement for AYUSH admission to Homeopathy and Ayurveda colleges in Maharashtra for the current academic year.

A bench of Justice S C Dharmadhikari and Gautam Patel has kept the plea on hold while noting that there is no need for the court's intervention, and the norms for admission to Homeopathy and Ayurveda colleges have been framed by the medical council after following due procedure.

The observation came while deliberating a petition filed by the Association of Managements of Homeopathic Colleges of Maharashtra and Association of Management of Ayurvedic Medical Colleges of Maharashtra, seeking relaxation on the rule for admission via percentile score for the academic year 2019-20. The associations demanded so stating that 50% of the seats in these colleges were vacant.

Presently, admission to Homeopathy and Ayurveda colleges requires a minimum 50-percentile score in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET).

Also Read: NEET is Mandatory eligibility criteria for BAMS, BHMS: HC denies relief to 100 students

In their petition, the associations submitted that the rules framed by the Central Council of Indian Medicine (CCIM) were not in consonance with the Indian Medicine Central Council (IMCC) Act, 1970. It was further highlighted by the counsel that the Karnataka and Punjab and Haryana HCs had granted relief to similar pleas.

After going through the submission, the Bombay High Court refused to grant interim relief and kept the petition pending. As per a recent media report in HT, the court held that the norms had been formulated by the medical council after following due procedure and hence, there was no need for interference by the court.

Prior to this, the association had moved a petition with the Supreme Court against the changed eligibility criteria for securing the vacant seats of Bachelors in Homeopathy (BHMS) and Ayurveda (BAMS).

Also Read: NEET 2018: Supreme Court orders filing up of Vacant BAMS, BHMS seats