Mumbai, Oct. 16 -- Two private medical colleges in the state are challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to stop institute-level counselling for medical admissions in the Bombay High Court. On Wednesday, Parbhani Medical College approached the Aurangabad bench, while Vedantaa Institute of Medical Sciences, Palghar, filed a petition before the principal bench of the high court. Both colleges seek permission to fill seats left vacant after the centralised admission process. The outcome of the petitions is likely to affect the ongoing National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) admission process in the state. Confirming the development, MV Thorat, counsel for both colleges, said, "Unaided colleges have the right to admit their own students and fill vacancies. We are appealing to the high court to give us back our rights." The petitioning colleges argue that the Maharashtra Unaided Private Professional Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admissions and Fees) Act, 2015, does not prohibit institute-level counselling. They also rely on Supreme Court judgments in a similar case. Institute-level counselling allows colleges to fill vacant MBBS and MD/MS seats on their own after the regular rounds of NEET counselling. The state government, however, made it mandatory for all admissions, including the final stray vacancy round, to be conducted online through the centralised admission process (CAP) by state Common Entrance Test (CET) cell, following directions from the National Medical Commission (NMC). The move came amid allegations by medical aspirants and activists that institute-level rounds lack transparency and allow colleges to bypass merit lists, with seats allegedly offered in exchange for large sums of money. Private colleges, however, maintain that institute-level counselling is necessary to ensure that seats do not remain vacant....