Entrance test today as SC declines to intervene

The NEET Phase I will be held on May 1 for admission to MBBS and BDS courses across the country as the Supreme Court favoured it again on Saturday.

The All India Pre-Med­ical/Pre-Dental Medical Test, scheduled on Sunday, is to be treated as the first round of NEET. The Supreme Court on Saturday once again favoured the holding of the examination, declining a plea for interference. The court refused to hear a plea by the counsel representing a group of students who wanted modification of the Thursday order for conducting the NEET in two phases on May 1 and July 24.

The students contended that since they only prepared for their state examinations, they would suffer adversely with the order. “Please allow the examination to be conducted. Nothing will happen in the meantime. Matter had been heard by the bench and it is over for now,” a three-judge bench, presided over by Chief Justice T S Thakur, holding a special sitting to hear Delhi pollution case, said. The court, however, allowed the counsel to file their petitions.

On Friday, a bench led by Justice Anil R Dave had declined a similar plea to stay the two-phase schedule of the single entrance test as announced by the CBSE. It also disregarded the concerns expressed by the Union government over the last-minute finalising of the NEET.

States like Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Maharashtra and Gujarat opposed holding the NEET. Tamil Nadu claimed its students were not trained to appear in any test for admission to medical colleges.