08.2026 SECTION : X IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION) WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 771 OF 2026 IN THE MATTER OF: Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association & Anr. …Petitioners versus Union of India & Ors. …Respondents INDEX S. No. Particulars Copies Court Fees 1. Application for Modification of Order dated 28.07.2026 with Affidavit 1+3 120
Next Date : 18.08.2026
SECTION : X
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION) WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 771 OF 2026
IN THE MATTER OF:
Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association & Anr. …Petitioners versus
Union of India & Ors. …Respondents
INDEX
S. No. Particulars Copies Court Fees
1. Application for Modification of Order
dated 28.07.2026 with Affidavit 1+3 120
Total 120
_____________________________________________________________
Filed on : 29.07.2026 Filed by:
ANURADHA ARPUTHAM Code No. 3394
Advocate for the Petitioners
Ch: 242 New Lawyers Chamber
Supreme Court of India, New Delhi – 110001
Off: 25 Bazar Lane, Bengali Market,
New Delhi – 110001, Ph: 011-43542683
Mob : 9871422641
Email: aoranuradha@gmail.com
Satish Kumar (IC No.5879)
Mob. No. 9716988403
Service of W.P. (C) 771 of 2026
1 message
Anuradha Arputham
To: mithujain.aor@gmail.com, cas-unit7b@gov.in, madhulika.gautam@gov.in, Balasubramanian Karunakaran
Sir / Ma’am,
Please find attached herewith the Application seeking Modification of Order dated 28.07.2026 for the purposes of service.
With Regards,
Anuradha Arputham
Advocate on Record
Supreme Court
(M): 9871422641
1273K
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION) IA NO. OF 2026 IN
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 771 OF 2026
IN THE MATTER OF:
Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association & Anr. …Petitioners versus
Union of India & Ors. …Respondents
I.A. NO………/2026 : APPLICATION FOR MODIFICATION OF
ORDER DATED 28.07.2026
PAPER BOOK
(FOR INDEX KINDLY SEE INSIDE)
ADVOCATE FOR THE PETITIONERS
ANURADHA ARPUTHAM
Filed on : 29.07.2026
INDEX
SL.
NO.
PARTICULARS PAGES
1. Application for Modification of Order dated
28.07.2026 with affidavit.
1-7
2. ANNEXURE A-1:
A true copy of the order dated 28.07.2026 passed by this Hon’ble Court in WP (C) No. 771 of 2026.
8-10
Filed on : 29.07.2026
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF INDIA (CIVIL ORIGINAL JURISDICTION) IA NO. OF 2026 IN
WRIT PETITION (CIVIL) NO. 771 OF 2026
IN THE MATTER OF:
Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association & Anr. …Petitioners versus
Union of India & Ors. …Respondents
APPLICATION FOR MODIFICATION OF ORDER DATED 28.07.2026
To,
The Hon’ble Chief Justice of India and His Companion Judges of the
Hon’ble Supreme Court of India
The humble Application of the Petitioners/Applicants above named
MOST RESPECTFULLY SHOWETH:
1. The the present Writ Petition has been filed by the Petitioners seeking, inter alia, a direction restraining the Respondents from surrendering the vacant in-service Super Specialty seats earmarked for the State of Tamil Nadu until completion of the All India Quota counselling process, and a further direction to permit in-service candidates to compete for the surrendered seats in the
event the qualifying percentile is reduced below the 50th percentile. The facts and circumstances of the case have been set out in detail in the Writ Petition and the same may kindly be treated as part and parcel of the present Application; they are not repeated herein for the sake of brevity.
2. That the 151 Super Specialty seats which remain unfilled are seats forming part of the 50% reservation for in-service candidates provided under G.O. Ms. No.462, Health and Family Welfare (MCA-1) Department, dated 07.11.2020, the constitutional validity whereof is traceable to Entry 25 of List III of the Seventh Schedule as held by the Constitution Bench in Tamil Nadu Medical Officers Association v. Union of India, (2021) 6 SCC 568, and which was permitted to be implemented for Super Specialty courses by the orders of this Hon’ble Court dated 16.03.2022 and 02.12.2022 in N. Karthikeyan v. State of Tamil Nadu, W.P.(C) No. 53 of 2022.
3. That the above matter was listed before this Hon’ble Court on 28.07.2026, when this Hon’ble Court, after hearing the learned counsel for the parties, was pleased to direct the State of Tamil Nadu to revert the unfilled 151 Super Specialty seats to the DGHS by 29.07.2026 and directed the DGHS to complete the second round of counselling expeditiously. In paragraph 4 of the said order, this Hon’ble Court was further pleased to direct as follows:
“4. It is also directed that the counselling shall be conducted on the same percentile and if, after the second round of counselling, a decision is to be taken to reduce the percentile, then 50% of such seats shall be reverted to the
State of Tamil Nadu and the remaining 50% seats shall be
filled through subsequent counselling by the DGHS as per the renewed percentile.”
A true copy of the order dated 28.07.2026 passed by this Hon’ble Court in WP (C) No. 771 of 2026 is annexed hereto and marked as
Annexure A-1. ( Pg. No. 8-10)
4. That the Petitioners are filing the present Application seeking a limited modification of paragraph 4 of the order dated 28.07.2026, insofar as it directs that, upon reduction of the percentile after the second round of counselling, only 50% of the unfilled seats shall be reverted to the State of Tamil Nadu while the remaining 50% shall be filled through subsequent counselling by the DGHS as per the renewed percentile.
5. That it is respectfully submitted that the seats in question are, in their entirety, seats of the in-service category. The DGHS receives such seats only under the arrangement recorded in the order dated 02.12.2022 in N. Karthikeyan – an arrangement conceived solely to prevent wastage of seats where no eligible in-service candidate is available – and holds them merely as a custodian for that limited purpose. The DGHS does not acquire any right, title or lien over the in-service seats by reason of such transfer.
6. That, further, ever since the surrender arrangement came into existence, the consistent and unbroken practice in every academic year has been that seats remaining unfilled after the All India Quota counselling are reverted in their entirety to the State quota. By way of illustration, in the Academic Session 2024–2025, all 58 seats which remained after the second round of All India Quota counselling were returned to the State of Tamil Nadu, without any division or retention. At no point in any year has any portion of the unfilled in-service seats been retained by the DGHS for being filled through the All India Quota at a renewed percentile. The direction in paragraph 4, to the extent it retains 50% of the unfilled seats with the DGHS, is thus a departure from the settled and uniform practice followed in all the years since this counselling arrangement has been in operation.
7. That the effect of the retention of 50% of the unfilled seats by the DGHS would be to permanently absorb into the All India Quota one-half of the seats that belong to the State’s in-service reservation, thereby diluting, in respect of these seats, the 50% inservice reservation provided under G.O. Ms. No. 462 and upheld by the Constitution Bench, without any adjudication to that effect. Moreover, the reduction of the qualifying percentile, if and when made, ought to ensure to the benefit of the very in-service candidates – more than 111 in number – who are waiting on the State merit list and who would become eligible upon such reduction; the seats remained unfilled only because such candidates could not qualify at the 50th percentile, and once they qualify at the renewed percentile, the seats must be available to them.
8. That no prejudice whatsoever would be caused to any stakeholder by the modification sought. The All India Quota candidates will have had the full benefit of the second round of counselling at the same percentile before any question of reversion arises; it is only the seats which still remain unfilled thereafter that would revert to the State to be filled by newly eligible in-service candidates. No seat would go waste, since any seat remaining unfilled even after
such reversion can always be dealt with in terms of the existing arrangement.
9. That the present Application is bona fide and is being filed in the interest of justice, and the modification sought advances the very object of the orders of this Hon’ble Court in N. Karthikeyan, namely, maximum utilisation of Super Specialty seats without defeating the in-service reservation.
PRAYER
In the premises it is most respectfully prayed that this Hon’ble Court may be pleased to:
(a) Modify paragraph 4 of the order dated 28.07.2026 passed by this Hon’ble Court in the present Writ Petition, to direct that the counselling shall be conducted on the same percentile and if, after the second round of counselling, a decision is to be taken to reduce the percentile, then the remaining unfilled seats shall be reverted in their entirety to the State of Tamil Nadu to be filled up by eligible in-service candidates in accordance with G.O. Ms. No.462 dated 07.11.2020; and
(b) Pass such further other Order(s) as this Hon’ble Court may deem fit and proper in the facts and circumstances of the case.
Filed by:
Place: New Delhi Date : 29.07.2026 ANURADHA ARPUTHAM
Advocate for the Petitioners
ANNEXURE A-1 8
ITEM NO.56 COURT NO.5 SECTION X
S U P R E M E C O U R T O F I N D I A
RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 771/2026 TAMIL NADU MEDICAL OFFICERS ASSOCIATION & ANR. Petitioner(s)
VERSUS UNION OF INDIA & ORS. Respondent(s)
FOR ADMISSION
IA No. 180959/2026 – STAY APPLICATION
WITH
MA 1901/2026 in W.P.(C) No. 415/2026 (X)
FOR ADMISSION
IA No. 181650/2026 – APPROPRIATE ORDERS/DIRECTIONS
Diary No(s). 37658/2026 (X)
IA No. 182977/2026 – APPLICATION FOR PERMISSION
Date : 28-07-2026 These matters were called on for hearing today.
CORAM : HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE PAMIDIGHANTAM SRI NARASIMHA
HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE ALOK ARADHE
Counsel for the
parties Mr. P. Wilson, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Richardson Wilson, Adv.
Mr. Apoorv Malhotra, Adv.
Mr. Lokesh Krishna, Adv.
Mr. Aditya Ojha, Adv.
Mr. Goutham Bhaskar, Adv.
Mr. Aravind A, Adv.
Mr. Saran Raghunandhan, Adv.
Ms. Sapna Pillai, Adv.
Mr. Ankit Sharma, Adv.
Mr. Mridul Gupta, Adv.
Ms. Anuradha Arputham, AOR
Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, AOR Ms. Yashmita Pandey, Adv.
Miss Madhulika Upadhyay, AOR
Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Sr. Adv.
Mr. Prashanto Chandra Sen, Sr. Adv.
Mr. B. Karunakaran, AOR
9
Ms. Azka Sheik Kalia, Adv.
Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, A.S.G.
Ms. Madhulika Upadhyay, AOR Mr. Akshat Agarwal, Adv.
Ms. Nasadiya Singh, Adv.
Mr. Kartikeya Asthana, Adv.
Ms. Shreya Jain, Adv.
Mr. Santosh Kumar, Adv.
Mr. Gaurav Sharma, Sr. Adv. Ms. Mithu Jain, AOR Mr. Shashwat Jaiswal, Adv.
Ms. Diksha Arora, Adv.
UPON hearing the counsel the Court made the following
O R D E R
1. We have heard learned counsel appearing for the State of TamilNadu as well as the association represented by Mr. P. Wilson, learned senior counsel, appearing for the respondents. We have also heard Mr. Gaurav Sharma, learned senior counsel appearing for National Medical Commission.
2. Having heard Ms. Aishwarya Bhati, learned Additional SolicitorGeneral and Ms. Rashmi Nandakumar, learned counsel, appearing for the applicants, we direct the State of Tamil Nadu to revert the unfilled 151 superspeciality seats to the DGHS by tomorrow i.e. 29.07.2026.
3. The DGHS shall complete the process of second round ofcounselling expeditiously.
4. It is also directed that the counselling shall be conducted onthe same percentile and if, after the second round of counselling, a decision is to be taken to reduce the percentile, then 50% of such seats shall be reverted to the State of Tamil Nadu and the remaining 50% seats shall be filled through subsequent counselling by the DGHS as per the renewed percentile.
10
5. Re-list the matter on 18.08.2026.
(JAYANT KUMAR ARORA) (NIDHI WASON) ASTT. REGISTRAR-cum-PS ASSISTANT REGISTRAR
//True Copy//
