Petition seeking review of SC order refusing postponement of NEET/JEE dismissed

The Supreme Court Friday dismissed a batch of petitions seeking a review of the Court’s decision dated August 17 refusing to postpone the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.

A three-judge bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, B R Gavai and Krishna Murari considered the review pleas in their chambers by way of circulation, meaning thereby that no oral arguments by the lawyers were allowed.

The batch of review petitions also included the petition filed by six ministers each from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Maharashtra who had also sought a review of the Court’s order.

In their plea, the ministers who come from non-BJP states had submitted that if the Court’s decision refusing to postpone NEET and JEE exams is not reviewed then grave and irreparable harm and injury could befall the student community.

The apex court on August 17 while rejecting a plea seeking postponement of NEET and JEE (Main) exams had observed-

“We find that there is absolutely no justification in the prayer made for postponement of the examination in question relating to NEET UG-2020 as well as JEE (Main) April, 2020. In our opinion, though there is pandemic situation, but ultimately life has to go and the career of the students cannot be put on peril for long and full academic year cannot be wasted”.

The JEE-Main is being held from 1 to 6 September, while the NEET exam for admission to undergraduate courses in medical colleges is scheduled for 13 September.