NEET 2018: All candidates allowed to appear, rules Delhi High Court

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Somesh S Menon | April 27, 2018 | 12:37 PM IST

NEW DELHI, April 26: All candidates who have applied for NEET 2018 will be allowed to appear for the exam, the Delhi High Court has ruled. As per the reserved judgement passed on April 26, 2018, students rendered ineligible by newly introduced clauses in the NEET 2018 eligibility criteria can now appear for the exam on May 6, bringing to an end a hugely controversial saga.

Confirmation of all candidates being allowed to appear for NEET 2018 is as per the update shared by Dr. Amit Gupta, the Kota-based education activist who has been at the forefront of leading the student protests and handling the legal challenges. “All Candidates (Upper Age Limit, BIOS, Additional Bio,Gap, Private) Allowed to appear in NEET 2018", tweeted Dr. Gupta soon after the Delhi High Court proceedings concluded on April 26.

Going by the decision of the Court, it is understood that all candidates who have studied Physics, Chemistry, Biology/Biotechnology (all three with practicals) and English in Classes 11 and 12 and secured the minimum specified marks in each will be allowed to appear for NEET 2018, irrespective of whether they completed their schooling from an open school or had a gap between Classes 11 and 12.

The admit card for these candidates is expected to be made available by the CBSE once the Court releases its official verdict, expected by April 28, 2018.

Origins of the controversy

As per amendments made by the Medical Council of India (MCI) to the “Regulations on Graduate Medical Education, 1997” on January 22, 2018, and subsequently published in the official NEET prospectus released by the CBSE on February 8, 2018, all aspirants above the age of 25, those who completed their schooling from NIOS/open schools or privately, those who had a gap year between Classes 11 and 12 and those who had only studied Biology as an additional subject at or after Class 12 level were all barred from applying for NEET 2018.

The Delhi High Court received a total of 11 Writ Petitions filed by various affected students from across the country demanding for the withdrawal of these new rules. A two member Bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Chander Shekhar first heard the separate petitions filed by various affected students in February and attached them as part of the same case.

Legal Proceedings

On February 26 and February 28, 2018, the Court issued interim orders as per which all the newly ineligible students could proceed with submitting the NEET 2018 application form. However, the Court also clarified that the final hearing on whether these candidates would be able to appear for the exam would take place on April 16. The CBSE subequently issued a notification in this regard allowing all candidates to apply.

After prolonged hearings on April 16 and April 17, the verdict was adjourned for April 24.

In the meantime, on April 12, a separate Bench of the Delhi High Court instructed the CBSE not to reject the applications of any of the candidates applying for NEET 2018. With the CBSE releasing the NEET 2018 Admit Card on April 17, candidates who were unable to download their admit cards were notified that they could do so after the Delhi High Court issued its final verdict.

The Bench continued with the hearings on April 24, April 25 and April 26. As per the directives of the Court on April 24, the MCI uploaded on its official website a detailed clarification regarding its stance on the eligibility status of various candidates who had applied for NEET. Finally on April 26, the Court ruled that all the candidates rendered ineligible by the new eligibility clauses will be able to appear for NEET this year.

Cause for relief

Earlier on Apil 25, Dr. Gupta had informed students that the issues of a gap year between Classes 11 and 12 and that of candidates who had completed their Class 12 privately in ‘compartment mode’ had already been resolved and the Court would be issuing a positive verdict regarding the NIOS and upper age limit affected students as well. True to his prediction, the Court has taken a sympathetic view of the last-minute hurdles created for various aspirants by the MCI and asked the rules to be removed, thereby allowing all candidates to appear for NEET this year.

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