The Cabinet Ministers of six Opposition-ruled states, including Rajasthan and Maharashtra, on Friday filed a joint review petition in the Supreme Court against its August 17 judgment rejecting postponement of NEET and JEE entrance exams for admissions in medical and engineering colleges.
The petition has sought an urgent open court hearing to reconsider the permission granted to conduct these exams. The petition, however, comes too late since the JEE (Main) exams are already scheduled from September 1 to 6 and NEET on September 13 and the court has only one intervening day of August 31 to consider the matter, provided Chief Justice of India Sharad Bobde orders its immediate listing. The four other petitioners are Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh.
The petition seeks review with twin objectives of ensuring that the students' academic year of 2020-2021 is not wasted and their health and safety is not compromised. The four main grounds are:
-- Secure the safety, security and right to life of the students-candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE exams;
-- Justice Mishra’s judgement has ignored the teething logistical difficulties in conducting the examinations at the proposed dates;
-- Failed to balance the competing but equally important aspects of conducting the examination and securing safety of the students; and
-- Fails to ensure that mandatory safeguards are put in place during the conduct of the examinations.
A decision to jointly petition the court was taken on Wednesday on the suggestion of West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee at a meeting organised by Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
