The Supreme Court (SC) on Thursday passed an order allowing Overseas Citizens of India (OCI) candidates to appear for the NEET UG 2021 counselling in the general category.
The interim order was passed after the OCI candidates had filed a petition challenging the March 4, 2021 notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to treat them at par with Non-Resident Indians(NRIs) for the purpose of college admissions. This meant that the OCI candidates would have to pay high fees similar to the NRI candidates for the medical course seats in India.
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Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati represented the government in the court and justified the government's stance on the notification saying OCIs were foreigners and that it would be unjust to the Indian citizens who aspire to study medicine and work as doctors in India. She also said to the court, that there were high chances that the OCI candidates would return to their countries after completion of their course. Ms Bhati also clarified "We have nothing against OCIs"
Though the court appreciated the point made by Ms Bhati, it said that the sudden implementation of the March 4 notification for the current term was arbitrary. The court further said that for the current academic session of 2021-2022, the petitioners are to be considered eligible for all the seats that they were before the issue of the March 4 notification.
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Justice Nazeer also said that OCIs are of Indian origin and not outsiders. He also said that they don't have money like NRIs and that they deserve to be given more time.“It is a question of balancing,” the court told the government.
The SC then directed the National Testing Agency (NTA) to allow the OCI candidates to appear for the counselling in the general category for the current session of 2021-2022
