Gujarat High Court Stay on Additional MBBS Round Continues Pending Orders

The Gujarat High Court has today extended the judicial stay on the commencement of the additional offline round for undergraduate medical admissions. As the 2025-26 admission cycle draws to its administrative close, the fate of hundreds of medical aspirants remains in a state of uncertainty due to the ongoing legal dispute regarding seat allocation criteria. As of today, February 19, the High Court has deferred the pronouncement of pending orders, effectively preventing the Admission Committee for Professional Undergraduate Medical Educational Courses (ACPUGMEC) from filling the remaining vacancies. This additional MBBS round was initially designed to address the seats left unoccupied after the stray vacancy phase, but it has now become the focal point of a complex legal challenge regarding domicile rights.

Legal Background and Judicial Stay Extension

The controversy leading to the judicial stay began when a group of local students filed a writ petition challenging the committee's decision to potentially allow non-domicile candidates into the final state-level mop-up. The Gujarat High Court intervened to ensure that the statutory reservation policies and state domicile rules were not bypassed in the haste to conclude the session.

• Petitioner's Argument: The students argue that the additional MBBS round should strictly prioritize Gujarat-domiciled candidates who have cleared NEET UG, especially for seats in government and GMERS institutes.
• Duration of Stay: The court first issued the interim order last week, and today’s extension signifies that the bench requires more time to scrutinize the document verification records of the participating candidates.
• NMC Guidelines: The committee has argued that the round was being conducted to ensure no specialized medical seat goes to waste, in line with the National Medical Commission (NMC) advisories.

Impact on the Additional MBBS Round and Vacancies

The continued judicial stay has significantly impacted the academic calendar of several medical colleges in the state. With the session already underway, the delay in the additional MBBS round means that approximately 450 seats remain vacant, which could otherwise have bolstered the state’s healthcare manpower.

• Affected Institutes: The vacancies are primarily located in the Gujarat Medical Education and Research Society (GMERS) colleges where the fee structure and local quota implementation remain points of contention.
• Seat Allotment Freeze: Because of the pending orders, the official admission portal has disabled the choice-filling and allotment modules, leaving candidates with no choice but to wait for the next court listing.

Administrative Standstill: The Health and Family Welfare Department has indicated its readiness to complete the process within 48 hours once the judicial stay is lifted.

Future Outlook and Pending Orders Timeline

The legal community in Ahmedabad expects the Gujarat High Court to provide final clarity by the end of the week. The resolution of the judicial stay is expected to be accompanied by a revised schedule for the additional MBBS round, assuming the court allows the process to proceed under specific restrictive conditions.

• Upcoming Hearing: The bench is scheduled to review the final submissions from the state's legal counsel tomorrow, which may lead to the formal release of the pending orders.
• Student Anxiety: Thousands of aspirants who were hoping for a late-cycle entry are now facing the prospect of losing a year if the pending orders are not delivered before the final national cut-off date.
• Verification Protocols: If the judicial stay is vacated, the committee will likely implement a manual document verification drive at Gandhinagar to strictly enforce domicile compliance as per the court's expected directives.

Conclusion

The ongoing judicial stay by the Gujarat High Court highlights the critical tension between state-level domicile rights and the national necessity of filling medical seats. As of February 19, the 450 vacancies in the additional MBBS round represent a missed opportunity for the current academic session. The delay caused by the pending orders serves as a reminder of the importance of clear, pre-defined counseling rules to avoid eleventh-hour litigation. For the aspirants, the next few days are pivotal; they must stay updated through the official medical admission portal while the judiciary balances the scales of merit and domicile rights. Once the court provides its final word, the committee must act with extreme speed to finalize the admissions, ensuring that the 2025-26 batch is completed without further administrative or legal hurdles. This conclusion to the additional MBBS round will ultimately shape the professional lives of hundreds of future doctors in Gujarat.

For regular updates follow Only Education News. For more details on medical entrance exams and courses, check here: Medical Exams List.