The Supreme Court has declined permission for a third round of counselling to fill up 213 all-India quota medical seats in 19 states for the academic year 2002-03 and directed that these would now be filled by state waiting list candidates.

A three-judge bench comprising Justice S Rajendra Babu, Justice D M Dharmadhikari and Justice G P Mathur yesterday rejected the application by some candidates in the all-India quota waiting list, requesting a third round of counselling.

It may be recalled that the Supreme Court had directed the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) on January 18, 2003, to submit within two days the details of nearly 250 medical seats lying vacant in various colleges to determine whether students in the waiting list of the all-India quota could be accommodated there.

A bench comprising Justice S Rajendra Babu and Justice G P Mathur had directed the DGHS to submit details of the medical colleges and the seats vacant therein within two days and posted for the January 21 hearing on petitions filed by students on the waiting list.

The court was informed by the DGHS that of the 1,800 seats, around 200 had fallen vacant even after the completion of the second round of counselling.

The state-wise break-up of vacancies in various medical colleges are: Maharashtra (30), Tamil Nadu (22), West Bengal (21), Punjab (17), Karnataka (17), Gujarat (17), Kerala (16), Uttar Pradesh (12), Madhya Pradesh (12), Goa (8), Haryana (7), Rajasthan (6), Delhi (5), Orissa (5), Pondicherry (5), Assam (5), Chattisgarh (4), Himachal Pradesh (3) and Jharkhand (2).

Rejecting the prayer of the applicants, the bench said just because in a given year the all-India quota was not filled up, the scheme framed by the court allowing the seats to be reverted back to the states should not be changed by allowing another round of counselling. Vacating the interim-order not to fill up the all-India quota seats, the bench directed the states in which vacancies have arisen to take appropriate steps to fill them up.