The Supreme Court will hear the review statement filed by six states against its order allowing the Central Government to conduct medical and engineering entrance exams: Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) and National Income Eligibility Exam (NEET) on Friday.
On August 17, the superior court had rejected the request for postponement of the medical and engineering entrance exams in a plea to see instructions for the postponement and cancellation of the exams scheduled for September.
Since Judge Arun Mishra has retired, who had approved the contested order, the new court will be headed by Judge Ashok Bhushan. The matter will be considered in the judging room according to the rules.
Six state government ministers from Maharashtra, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Punjab, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh had addressed the high court on August 28 to request the revision of their August 17 order. These ministers are from non-BJP-governed states and have filed a petition for review in the high court for the deferral of the JEE-NEET exams.
The states argued that the previous order does not guarantee the safety and right to life of students who sit for exams. It also ignored the initial logistical difficulties in conducting the reviews on the proposed dates. The order failed to balance the competitive, but equally important, aspects of taking the exam and ensuring student safety, they added. They said the earlier order does not guarantee that mandatory safeguards will be put in place during the testing.
The JEE-Main will be held from September 1-6, while the NEET exams for admission to undergraduate courses in medical schools are scheduled for September 13. JEE Advanced for Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) is scheduled for the end of September.
On August 17, the high court headed by Judge Arun Mishra ordered that the petition be dismissed, saying that “the career of the students cannot be jeopardized for long.”
Judge Mishra had said: “Life cannot be stopped. We have to go ahead with all the safeguards and everything … Education must be opened. COVID can continue for one more year. Are you going to wait another year? You know what ? It is the loss for the country and the danger for the students. “
On August 27, more than 150 academics from various universities in India and abroad wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that delaying further JEE-Mains and NEET will mean compromising the future of students.
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