The JEE began on September 1 and the NEET exam will take place on September 13. (Archive)
New Delhi:
The Supreme Court today rejected for the second time a request to postpone the JEE (Joint Entrance Examination) and NEET (National Eligibility and Entrance Examination) medical and engineering exams due to the coronavirus crisis. This time, six opposition-ruled states had asked the court to review its previous order and postpone exams for the safety of thousands of students.
There is no merit in the petition, judges Ashok Bhushan, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari said after considering it in their chambers. “There is no case to reconsider our previous decision,” the superior court said.
On August 17, the Supreme Court rejected a similar request from 11 students from 11 states.
Maharashtra, Bengal, Punjab, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Puducherry had decided to ask the court to reconsider its decision in the interest of the students.
The states had claimed that the higher court order failed to guarantee the students’ “right to life” and ignored the “initial logistical difficulties” they will face when taking exams during the COVID-19 pandemic.
They had called for the exams to be postponed “in order to achieve the dual objective of ensuring that students’ academic year is not wasted and that their health and safety are not compromised.”
JEE began on September 1 and will continue until September 6 and the NEET exam will take place on September 13. State governments that applied to the court, such as Bengal, claim that thousands of students were unable to take the exam.
In its previous order, the Supreme Court had refused to interfere with engineering and medical entrance exams saying that “life must go on” and that “students cannot lose a precious year due to the pandemic.”
The petition from the states described that order as “cryptic, non-speaking” and that it did not address various aspects and complexities involved in an issue of this magnitude. The petition for review said that the mere fact that thousands of students have registered for the exam, an argument frequently made by the central government, is not indicative of their consent or willingness or desire to attend physical exams.
“It is stated that if the (August 17 order) is not reviewed, then serious and irreparable damage and injuries will occur to the student community of our country and not just the health, welfare and safety of the students / candidates who to be submitted for the NEET / JEE examinations would be in jeopardy, but also general public health would be in grave danger in these times of the COVID-19 pandemic, “the statement said.
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