Postponing NEET PG 2022 will create chaos, uncertainty: Supreme Court dismisses plea

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the plea seeking postponement of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test postgraduate (NEET PG 2022) and said postponing the medical entrance exam will create “chaos and uncertainty”.

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The bench led by Justice DY Chandrachud noted that “The grievance of the petitioners is that they are not allowed a fair opportunity to participate, which violates their fundamental rights under Article 14. Refusing to postpone the NEET-PG-22 examination on a plea of doctors, the apex court said the delay would cause unavailability of doctors and seriously affect patient care.

“As regards to the submission that postponement will not cause prejudice, what must be borne in mind is that there are students who have registered. As the country gets back on the rails after which was caused due to the pandemic, the time schedule must be adhered to,” the court said, as per the Live Law report.

The court reportedly said that “the original schedule for NEET 2022-23 had to be revised due to pandemic exigencies. The petitioners and similarly placed doctors have participated in the counselling process for NEET-PG 2021. They were not barred from registering for NEET-PG 2022.”

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NEET PG 2022 not postponed

“There are two categories of students -- one which is seeking postponement and the larger category of over two lakh six thousand candidates -- who would be affected by the postponement after having prepared for the examination”, the bench said. It noted that the government is trying to bring back the schedule of examination on time as it was affected due to the pandemic, the PTI reported.

The first round of NEET PG 2021 Counselling took place between January 12 to 14, second round from January 15 to February 12, which later got extended up to February 18. Thereafter, the NEET PG 2021 Counselling mop up/stray rounds took place till May 7. In addition, states will be holding the NEET PG 2021 counselling till May 12.

After the clash with the counselling schedule, the NEET PG 2022 which was scheduled on March 12 was postponed to May 21, with results expected on 20 June, 2022.

ASG Aishwarya Bhati said, “There are a large number of students who want exam on May 21. 2 lakh 6000 doctors have registered. What is we are seeking to espouse is the rights of these doctors. Delay may have a cascading effect on other years, other courses, SS courses and also patient care,” as per the report.

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On May 4, the All India Medical Students Association (AIMSA) on May 4 moved the Supreme Court of India to defer the NEET PG 2022 exam by 8 to 10 weeks.

Students have been demanding for the postponement on Twitter citing that the clash between the NEET PG 2021 Counselling and NEET PG 2022 exam will make nearly 5,000 aspirants ineligible. The doctors and students association have also written letters to President Ram Nath Kovind and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in this regard.