NEET PG 2026: MCC halts Round 3 choice locking process amid Supreme Court standoff

New Delhi: The Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) has officially suspended the choice-locking process for Round 3 of the NEET PG 2026 medical counselling, superseding its previous advisory issued on Jan. 29.

The sudden move, which follows critical information received from the National Medical Commission (NMC), is tied to a high-stakes pending matter in the Supreme Court of India. This administrative "hold" has effectively halted the seat allotment sequence for thousands of postgraduate medical aspirants nationwide.

The Suspension and Extended Timelines

In its latest notice, the MCC confirmed that the choice-locking facility, which allows candidates to finalise and freeze their college preferences, will remain deactivated "until further notice."

This follows a chain of rapid-fire adjustments to the counselling schedule:

• The Jan. 29 Directive: Originally, the MCC had informed candidates that the choice-filling window would close at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, Jan. 30.
• The Original Lock Window: Choice locking was initially scheduled to activate at 6:00 p.m. on Jan. 29 and remain available until the morning of Jan. 30.
• The Current Status: Under the new "supersession" notice, while choice-locking is on hold, the choice-filling window has been extended to ensure no candidate is disadvantaged while the legal impasse continues.

Legal Impasse and Judicial Scrutiny

The suspension is reportedly linked to ongoing litigation in the Supreme Court concerning the revised eligibility criteria. A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has challenged the government’s move to slash the qualifying cutoff to a "zero percentile" and a minimum score of -40 for certain categories.

By freezing the choice-locking process, the MCC and NMC aim to prevent an irreversible seat allotment that might later be invalidated by a court order.

Impact on Seat Matrix and Allotment

The pause also coincides with a significant shuffle in the seat pool. The MCC recently issued an updated seat matrix, adding 66 new PG seats while withdrawing others due to accreditation changes.

Candidates are advised that:

• Manual Review: They should re-verify their saved choices, as any preferences for withdrawn seats will be automatically ignored during processing.
• Seat Processing Delay: The Round 3 seat allotment result, originally expected this week, is now indefinitely postponed and is unlikely to be released before the first week of February.

The MCC has urged all candidates to regularly monitor the official portal at mcc.nic.in for a revised comprehensive schedule once the Supreme Court provides further direction.