Mumbai: The Supreme Court (SC) on Friday asked the National Board of Examination (NBE) to come up with certain information and a solution for medical students' demand to postpone the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for post-graduation (PG) programmes by three months, LiveLaw has reported.
A bench comprising Justice S. Ravindra Bhat and Justice Dipankar Datta refused to pass an order in the matter and instead deferred the hearing on Monday, February 27.
According to LiveLaw, The bench, while asserting that it is not indicating that it will postpone the exams, said that it wanted responses to the concerns raised by the petitioners.
The petition to postpone the examination, scheduled to be conducted on March 5, 2023, has been filed by 13 medical aspirants. The petitioners said that they are finding it difficult to time to prepare for the test due to their internship duties.
Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the counsel for the petitioners, said that out of 2 lakh students who have applied for NEET PG 2023, the issue affects around 45,000 students. The lawyer pointed out that many candidates have not had enough exposure to knowledge gained through internship and this puts them at a disadvantageous position. These students are now undergoing over 12 hours of internship work daily and hence there is no adequate time for preparation, reports LiveLaw.
However, the bench expressed concerns that postponing the exam will cause agony to the students who have been preparing for it. ""Those who have been preparing for months together, if they are told that they should wait for months... We are also aware when we postpone... the agony of candidates who have prepared...the whole dynamics changes", Justice Bhat is reported to have said.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, who appeared for NBE, argued that the technology partner roped in by the agency to conduct the exam may not be available at a different date in the near future.
Following the hearing, Dr Rohan Krishan, Chairman, Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA), said that he hopes that the court will "bring justice" to NEET PG candidates. He, however, demanded that NBE shouldn't release the exam admit cards, as the matter is yet to be decided.
