• The Supreme Court on Tuesday started the crucial hearing in the pleas of state governments, private medical colleges and minority institutions like CMC Vellore and Ludhiana seeking permission to conduct their pre-scheduled test for admissions to MBBS and BDS courses. They said that the majority of the students were not ready to face NEET.
• Jammu and Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana cited special constitutional provisions to contend that only the state can have the say in holding examination for MBBS and BDS courses.
• It also took note of the contention raised by various state governments about the language issue, i.e. use of vernacular languages by asking Gujarat Government to place before it the question papers of last two years.
  Senior advocate Vikas Singh, appearing for the MCI, opposed the contention of vernacular language, saying that the MBBS and BDS course across the country is being taught in English.
• Supreme Court said “there was no urgency” in passing the order on the fresh pleas, and it would give the decision after hearing all the stakeholders.
• Supreme Court asked Medical Council of India (MCI) to respond to state governments’ plea to hold separate exams this year. The MCI has to respond to the plea by Thursday. Next hearing on Thursday i.e. 5TH May.

The Supreme Court on Tuesday rebuffed the plea of private medical colleges that the NEET violated their autonomy and fundamental right to run educational institutions.

A bench of Justices A R Dave, Shiva Kirti Singh and A K Goel said forcing students to take multiple entrance exams across the country is an excessive burden on medical aspirants and they would have to spend thousands of rupees filling up forms.

Agreeing to hear the plea of state governments and private medical colleges opposing NEET in the current academic year, the bench said the second phase of NEET would be held on schedule and asked the Centre and CBSE to start preparations for the test to be held on July 24. Additional solicitor-general Pinky Anand told the bench that the first phase of NEET was conducted smoothly on May 1 and around 6.5 lakh aspirants took the exam.

State governments and medical colleges told the court that preparations to conduct the test had been done and sought permission to go ahead. The court did not pass any order and said it will do so only after hearing all parties. As the court has not restrained them from holding exams, various tests can be held but their validity will hang in balance till the SC passes its order.

Several legal eagles appeared for the states and colleges opposing NEET. The court room was packed with lawyers raising their voice to be heard. The court said it would allow all parties but added that it’d decide the case as per law and wouldn’t be pressured.

Senior advocate K K Venugopal, appearing for the association of private colleges of Karnataka, told the bench that the examination was to be conducted on May 8 across the country in which more than one lakh students would appear. He said it was not right to force NEET on colleges at that stage. His views were supported by the Tamil Nadu government which said students were admitted in medical colleges on the basis of their 10+2 marks and there was no examination culture in the state since 2007.

Senior advocate L Nageswara Rao, appearing for the Christian Medical College, Vellore, said that forcing NEET on minority unaided institutions would amount to interfering with their autonomy and fundamental right to manage their colleges.
The bench disagreed and said NEET was just a test and the minority institutions were free to admit students as per eligibility criteria fixed by them.

Also Read – NEET Phase1 Paper Analysis

Various Reactions over NEET-

1)Coimbatore doctors oppose NEET-The Tamil Nadu Government Doctors Association (TNGDA) strong opposing to the Supreme Court order. They said the move was disadvantageous for Tamil medium students and those who are studying state board syllabus, The question paper will also be in English and Hindi. How will a rural student from a Tamil medium school even attempt this question?”
The TNGDA said if the central government wanted to hold such an entrance test, it should first bring about a uniform education syllabus. “Let them also make it compulsory for every school and student to follow this syllabus and maybe after around four to five years you bring about a common entrance exam,” he said.

2)West Bengal students oppose NEET- Students who have applied for the West Bengal Joint Entrance Examination (WBJEE) launched an agitation in Salt Lake, West Bengal on Monday May 2, demanding that the state government to oppose the NEET.
A section of students said that in the wake of a NEET, the state level JEEs to be held on May 17 would be scrapped, putting “the future of thousands of JEE candidates in the dark”.