NEET and JEE to be held in September, SC dismisses plea to postpone

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, on Monday, August 17th, dismissed the petition demanding the postponement of NEET and JEE entrance exams and concluded that they would be held in September, as per schedule.

A three-judge bench of Justices Arun Mishra, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari, was hearing a petition filed by 11 candidates from all across the country. The students requested that the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) should not be held during the pandemic.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who spoke on behalf of the National Testing Agency (NTA), ensured the bench that exams would be conducted with all safety precautions in mind.

While dismissing the plea, the bench said, "Career of students cannot be put in jeopardy."

The bench also said that the country needs to proceed with precautions. The court further observed, "Life cannot be stopped. We have to move ahead with all safeguards. Are students ready to waste a whole year? (sic)"

The petitions, whilst requesting postponement of the exams, also requested that more centres should be allocated for conducting the exams so that there can be proper social distancing, and students do not have to travel long hours to take the test.

Appearing on behalf of students, Advocate Alakh Srivastava cited the cancellation of CBSE exams. "We are not looking for indefinite postponement," he said.

Parents of students have also moved to court to request that JEE (Mains)-20 and NEET UG-20 are conducted in September as per the second revised schedule of the NTA.

The NTA had issued a revised notice on July 3rd, which stated that the JEE mains exam would be conducted from September 1st to 6th, and the NEET-UG will be held on September 13th.