NEET aspirants breathe easy as Court restores 600 withheld MBBS seats
Ayushi.Gupta1@timesofindia.com 29.09.2025
In a relief to aspirants seeking admission to medical colleges, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has released over 600 seats out of the 1,056 MBBS seats, which were previously withheld due to alleged corruption cases flagged by the CBI in July. The seats have been reinstated after various state High Courts granted interim relief to the institutions concerned. For now, the number of withheld seats is 456, the fate of which will be decided by the NMC when colleges comply with the Minimum Standard Requirements (MSR) 2023 norms.
According to the seat matrix released in September 2025, the NMC had withheld 150 to 200 MBBS seats from several institutions, including Swaminarayan Institute of Medical Sciences & Research (SIMSR) in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, Hamdard Institute of Medical Sciences and Research in Delhi. These actions were based on pending court cases and investigations initiated by the CBI. Dr Abhijat Sheth, chairman, NMC, says, “As per the data collected till September 24, there are only 456 withheld seats. This has been done after approval from the Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) and the MoHFW.”
The renewal of MBBS seats in four out of six institutions flagged by the CBI regarding corruption was sooner than expected. Dr B Srinivas, deputy director general, Medical Education, MoHFW says, “The NMC has complied with the instructions issued by the respective state High Courts. As the corruption charges against several medical colleges are still under judicial review and have not been proven, the courts have granted interim relief for the current academic year.
This relief has allowed the colleges to proceed with MBBS admissions for approximately 600 seats, ensuring minimal disruption for aspirants while the legal process continues.” Besides the restoration of withheld seats, the NMC has announced an increase of 7,375 new MBBS seats for the academic year 2025-26. With this expansion, the total number of MBBS seats available nationwide has increased to 1,23,244, up from 1,17,750 in the 2024-25 academic year. The final seat matrix is expected to reflect only 456 withheld seats, a significant reduction from the initial figure
