The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to overturn admissions already made in deemed universities for undergraduate medical and dental courses in Kerala and Maharashtra.

A Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and L. Nageswara Rao said admissions already made shall not be interfered with in the name of centralised counselling, thus providing thousands of students in both States from further uncertainty about their future.

The court refused Centre's arguments to set aside a Kerala High Court order of August 26 to quash a State government notification making centralised counselling mandatory for medical and dental admissions in the State.

The apex court declined the contentions, noting that the admissions were completed on the basis of the High Court order. The Bench however did not allow these universities to conduct any further individual counselling for admissions.

In Maharashtra's case, the Supreme Court said seats still remaining vacant would be filled up through centralised counselling by the State. The universities can have their representatives present during the counselling session. Admission dates have been extended to October 7.

The fate of thousands of medical students who cleared NEET was in the hands of the Supreme Court as the Centre and Maharashtra government, on one side, and deemed universities on the other were engaged in a tug-of-war over the right to holding counselling sessions.

With days numbered before medical and dental admissions close for the academic year, a Bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and L. Nageswara Rao had to decide whether States have a right to conduct centralised counselling. Deemed universities argue that the States were stepping on their fundamental right to administer their own institutions and hold individual counselling for students.

To make matters worse, several thousand students in the States had already been admitted into these deemed universities on the basis of individual counselling done by the varsities.