The Supreme Court on Monday, February 27th, dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) post graduate (PG) examination, which is scheduled to be held on March 5th 2023, Bar and Bench reported.
The petitioners approached the apex court, pointing out that the eligibility criteria had been modified by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) twice. Senior advocates Gopal Sankaranarayanan and Vivek Tankha, on behalf of the petitioners, argued that the NBE made the changes without consulting the State Medical Boards in advance, which didn’t give the aspirants adequate time for the preparation of the ensuing NEET PG examination. Furthermore, the court was informed that never before was there a five month hiatus between the scheduled date of NEET PG examination and counselling date. Citing this gap of five months, the petitioners questioned why there is a haste in conducting the examination.
On the other hand, additional solicitor general (ASG), Aishwarya Bhati, said during the hearing that the administrative arrangements vis a vis the NEET PG examination were already in place, and no other date was available with the technology partner.Â
A bench of justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta said that the candidates are not prevented from trying again (taking the examination again) and refused to castigate the administrative process of the NBE.
The court, however, declined to interfere and dismissed the plea to defer the NEET PG examination 2023.
