The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a review petition by six opposition ruled states seeking postponement of JEE Main 2020 and NEET 2020 examinations.
A bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan heard the review petition filed by cabinet ministers of six opposition-ruled states. JEE Main 2020, for admission to engineering programmes in participating institutions, started on September 1. The National Entrance Cum Eligibility Test Undergraduate, or NEET 2020, is scheduled for September 13.
The Supreme Court bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, B R Gavai and Krishna Murari refused to entertain the review petition filed by minister's from West Bengal, Maharashtra, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh saying there is no merit in the plea. "No case is made out for reconsidering our earlier decision," said the top court.
Petitioner number one is West Bengal Labour and Law Minister Moloy Ghatak, number two is Jharkhand Finance Minister Rameshwar Oraon, the third is Rajasthan Health and Family Welfare Minister Raghu Sharma, the fourth petitioner is Chhattisgarh's Food and Civil Supplies Minister Amarjeet Bhagat, the fifth is Punjab's Health and Family Welfare Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu, and the sixth is Maharashtra's Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Ravindra Samant.
The petition, filed through advocate Sunil Fernandes, contends the petitioners have moved the top court to "secure the safety, security and right to life of the students -candidates appearing for the NEET/JEE exams". The petition argues that the top court has ignored the 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 student. Fails to ensure that mandatory safeguards are put in place during the conduct of the examinations," said the petition challenging the August 17 order.
