Supreme Court. (Image for representation / AFP)
Six opposition-ruled states have moved the supreme court seeking a review of their order allowing the Center to physically take the NEET and JEE entrance exams.
- News18.com New Delhi
- Last update: September 4, 2020 12:00 am IST
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The Supreme Court will consider on Friday a petition filed by ministers from six opposition-ruled states requesting the revision of their Aug. 17 order allowing the physical completion of the NEET and JEE exams. The ministers had said that the higher court order did not ensure the students’ “right to life” and ignored the “initial logistical difficulties” they will face when taking exams during the coronavirus pandemic.
The National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts both exams, will hold the JEE core exams from September 1-6, while NEET will take place on September 13. A court of judges Ashok Bhushan, BR Gavai and Krishna Murari will consider the review. pleading on camera.
Review matters in the higher court are generally considered “in the chambers” by circulating the petition among all the judges of the court. The judges then decide “in the chambers” whether there is any merit in the petition for review to re-examine the case at the public hearing.
Six states had moved the supreme court to seek revision of their order allowing the Center to conduct NEET and JEE entrance exams in September. The request for review has been submitted by ministers from West Bengal (Moloy Ghatak), Jharkhand (Rameshwar Oraon), Rajasthan (Raghu Sharma), Chhattisgarh (Amarjeet Bhagat), Punjab (BS Sidhu) and Maharashtra (Uday Ravindra Sawant).
The statement, filed through attorney Sunil Fernandes, said the supreme court order does not meet the safety concerns of students who have to sit for exams. The court had refused to interfere with the taking of medical and engineering entrance exams, saying that life must go on and that students cannot lose a precious year due to the pandemic.
On August 17, the high court dismissed a request by one Sayantan Biswas and others seeking instructions from the NTA to postpone them after Attorney General Tushar Mehta assured that all guarantees would be taken. Qualifying the decision to conduct the examination as irrational, the statement said that the higher court did not realize that the Union government had enough time to establish at least one center for each district for NEET (UG) and JEE (Red ) instead of having multiple centers in one district.
The petition for review said that the mere fact that thousands of students have registered for the exam is not indicative of their consent or their willingness or desire to attend physical exams. He said that the order of August 17 is cryptic, does not speak and does not discuss various aspects and complexities involved in an issue of this magnitude.
The statement said that only two reasons given by the court (life must go on and students must not miss an academic year) do not constitute an authorized and full judicial scrutiny of the matter. She said that the court’s observation that “life must go on” may have very strong philosophical foundations, but cannot substitute for valid legal reasoning and logical analysis of the various aspects involved in taking the NEET UG and JEE exams.
According to the petition, according to the NTA, approximately 9.53 lakh and 15.97 lakh of students have registered for JEE (Main) and NEET (UG), respectively. The allegation said that JEE Mains is scheduled to take place in 660 test centers with 9.53 lakhs of students, approximately 1,443 students per center. Similarly, for NEET UG, 15.97 lakhs of students will appear at 3,843 centers across the country, nearly 415 students per center, she said.
Such a large movement of people will prove to be a serious health hazard and will completely defeat the twin solutions we have today to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, namely social distancing and the avoidance of large public gatherings.
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