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MP High Court Issues Notice on NEET-UG Students’ Plea for Refund of ₹10 Lakh Forfeited After Seat Cancellation

 

MP High Court Issues Notice on NEET-UG Students’ Plea for Refund of ₹10 Lakh Forfeited After Seat Cancellation

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has issued notice in response to a petition by NEET-UG medical aspirants challenging the forfeiture of ₹10 lakh paid during counselling, after they cancelled seats allotted by a private medical college. The petitioners contend that the forfeiture under Rule 12(7)(ga) of the Madhya Pradesh Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admissions and Determination of Fees) Act, 2007 (amended in 2018) is unconstitutional, as the rule has been misapplied to penalize students who opted to cancel the seat within the counselling procedure.

According to the petition, students who participated in the first round of counselling and were allotted seats were required to deposit ₹10 lakh immediately. Subsequently, several petitioners, after securing admission in colleges outside Madhya Pradesh, informed both the Directorate of Medical Education (DME) and the concerned private college in writing about cancelling their allocated seat before the closure of the second counselling round. However, despite the timely communication, the DME issued an order that the ₹10 lakh deposited by each candidate would be confiscated under Rule 12(7)(ga). The petitioners argue that the rule’s correct interpretation allows forfeiture only when a candidate abandons a seat in the final round of counselling, resulting in a vacancy that cannot be filled. They assert that the rule cannot apply where the seat is vacated in earlier rounds and can still be reallocated to other aspirants.

The petitioners further submitted a representation for refund in January 2025, but no response was received from authorities. They argue that the rule confines forfeiture to last-round abandonment and is misrepresented to confiscate funds in cases of earlier cancellation. The plea seeks refund of the deposited amount as well as a declaration that Rule 12(7)(ga) is void insofar as it allows such forfeiture in cases of seat cancellation during the ongoing counselling process.

A Division Bench comprising the Chief Justice of Madhya Pradesh, Sanjeev Sachdeva, and Justice Dwarka Dhish Bansal has issued notice on the petition, directing the state and respondents to respond. The matter has been listed for hearing on November 4.

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