NEET MDS 2024: Supreme Court refuses to postpone exam; says ‘inappropriate to interfere at this stage’

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has refused to postpone the National Eligibility Entrance Test-Master of Dental Surgery (NEET MDS) 2024. The top court was hearing a miscellaneous application filed by students demanding exam postponement. NEET MDS 2024 is scheduled for March 18.

CJI DY Chandrachud observed, “An effort is made by NDC to bring back on rails the commencement of dental courses, this cannot be regarded as arbitrary to seek intervention of court.....on parameters of judicial review, we think it is inappropriate to interfere at this stage , we decline to intervene in the present matter.”

During the Supreme Court hearing, the National Dental Commission (NDC) submitted that the commission is making efforts to bring the schedule back on track and informed that around 28,000 students will sit for the exam on March 18. It said that postponing the exam at this point will affect these students. The NDC added that the union government did extend the cut-off date after which 568 students registered for the exam.

The counsel of the petitioner argued that students are halfway through their clinical course and informed that 8,000 students will be left out. The petitioners demanded parity between NEET MDS 2024 and NEET PG 2024 exam.

NEET MDS 2024: Why were students demanding postponement?

The NEET MDS 2024 aspirants had approached the top court again after the medical board extended the NEET MDS 2024 internship cut-off date to June 30. The petitioners’ counsel told the court that the centre didn’t take any action on the exam date despite giving surety.

The health ministry had informed in a Right to Information (RTI) filed by a students’ union that the demand to postpone NEET MDS 2024 is ‘under process’. The All India Students’ Union (AISU) had urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to postpone the exam.

The Supreme Court earlier in February refused to take a decision on the extension of NEET MDS 2024 internship cut-off date. CJI DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra heard the petition seeking exam postponement and said that the union is more suited to take a call on the issue.

Students and doctors’ organizations had demanded NEET MDS 2024 postponement to July. The associations argued that the internship cut-off date stripped thousands of aspirants of their eligibility to appear for the exam and since the NEET MDS counselling will be conducted along with NEET PG in August, students will have to wait around a long time. They also cited the reason that confusion around the test will make it difficult for students to perform.