New Delhi, June 21 (IANS) The Supreme Court Thursday issued notice to the union health ministry on the plea of a medical student aspiring to get admission into a post-graduate course under the all-India quota in government colleges in the various states.

On petitioner Isha Karwasra's plea, the apex court vacation bench of Justice H.L. Gokhale and Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai also issued notice to the state governments. The matter would next be heard June 26.

Petitioner's senior counsel Indu Malhotra sought direction that the states report to the director general of health services (DGHS) all the vacant seats in government medical and dental colleges falling under the all-India quota.

Karwasra told the court that as many as six states had not even undertaken their second round of counselling where as the DGHS, which conducted the all-India seats' counselling, had already completed the third and final round.

The third round of counselling for the all-India quota seats commenced June 7 and concluded June 9.

The states as per the schedule were expected to complete the second round of counselling for their seats by May-end, the petitioner said.

Justifying the plea for extending the third round of the all-India counselling by the DGHS, Malhotra said that the apex court had directed similar extension of the process in the last five years.

She told the court that if counselling for the all-India seats was not extended then several hundred seats under this quota would go to the states.

The court was told that such a situation had arisen because the states had not given correct data to the DGHS on the vacant all-India quota seats.

The court was told that a similar extension of the all-India counselling in 2009 resulted in the restoration of 400 all-India quota seats which were illegally usurped by the states.

The petitioner told the court that the third round of counselling conducted by the DGHS for the all-India quota seats was a meaningless exercise as there was no information available on the seats that were vacant in the states.