BREAKING: NEET-UG 2021 will not be postponed: Supreme Court dismisses plea for postponing exam

NEW DELHI: In a significant development, the Supreme Court of India on Monday rejected a writ petition filed seeking directions for rescheduling of NEET-UG 2021 examination to a date after the declaration of the CBSE compartment, private, correspondence exams. 

The examination will be held as per schedule on September 12, the Supreme Court said. "NEET will not be postponed,'' the Supreme Court said as it turned down a plea for postponing the NEET examination scheduled for September 12.

“We will not entertain this petition. We do not want uncertainty. Let the exam continue,” a bench comprising Justice AM Khanwilkar, Justice Hrishikesh Roy, and Justice CT Ravikumar added.

Supreme Court declines to entertain a petition seeking orders to relevant authorities for rescheduling or deferring the NEET UG- 2021 exam pic.twitter.com/RWLGtc2eRg — ANI (@ANI) September 6, 2021

It is to be noted that the National Testing Agency (NTA) had announced that it would be conducting the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test, NEET 2021 on September 12, 2021.

NTA on September 3 had clarified to the bench that the students would be allowed to appear for the examination, irrespective of the fact that CBSE Results would not be declared by then. 

“The non-declaration of results will not stop the students from appearing in the exam, and results will only be required during the counselling,” the NTA has said.

Filed through Advocate Sumanth Nookala, the plea calls for quashing the July 13 public notice scheduling National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET)-Undergraduate exams on September 12.

It termed the public notice as “manifestly arbitrary” and “in violation of Article 14 of the Constitution of India”. Furthermore, the petitioner had urged the court that a direction may be issued for shifting the medical entrance exam to a suitable date soon after the ongoing board/other competitive exams. 

NTA officials had advised students to focus on their preparation since there is no clarity yet on the reschedulling of the exam.

NTA and the Ministry of Education had earlier further clarified that delay in the examination is not possible as it would set back the admission process by another two months. Furthermore, the logistical concerns cannot be ignored.