SC to consider permission to hold NEET in 6 regional languages

The Supreme Court today said it will consider Centre's plea seeking permission to hold the entrance examination for MBBS and BDS for the academic year 2016-17 in six vernacular languages -- Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Assamese, Bengali and Gujarati.

A plea in this regard was mentioned before a bench headed by Justice A R Dave by Solicitor General Ranjit Kumar who said the order passed yesterday for holding the entrance through National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) did not record anything on the issue of vernacular language.

The bench said, "We have left it to you." The bench, also comprising justices Shiva Kirti Singh and A K Goel may take up the matter shortly.

The same bench had yesterday had said the Centre and the CBSE will conduct a single common entrance test for admission to MBBS and BDS courses through NEET.

It had rejected the pleas of the state governments, private institutions and minority institutions for allowing to conduct separate entrance test.

The apex court had put to rest all confusion by refusing to modify its April 28 order by which it had allowed Centre and CBSE to conduct a single common entrance test for admission to MBBS and BDS courses through NEET.

The top court had approved the schedule put before it by the Centre, CBSE and Medical Medical Council of India (MCI) for treating All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) fixed for May 1 as NEET-1.

Those who have not applied for AIPMT will be given opportunity to appear in NEET-II on July 24 and the combined result would be declared on August 17 so that the admission process can be completed by September 30. Around 6.5 lakh students took up the NEET-I test held on May 1.

The apex court had also made it clear that "the students who have either applied for NEET-I but could not appear or who appeared but could not prepare fully thinking that the preparation was to be only for 15 per cent all India seats and there will be further opportunity to appear in other examinations.

"To allay any such apprehension, we direct that all such eligible candidates who could not appear in NEET-I and those who had appeared but have apprehension that they had not prepared well, be permitted to appear in NEET-II, subject to seeking an option from the said candidates to give up their candidature for NEET-I," the bench had said.

It had also said it "would be open to the respondents (Centre, CBSE) to reschedule the date of holding NEET-II, if necessary. To this extent the earlier orders stand modified.

"We may also add here that to ensure total credibility of the examination to be held by the CBSE, the Oversight Committee appointed by this court vide the aforesaid judgment dated May 2, 2016 shall also oversee the NEET-II examination to be conducted by the CBSE. In view of the above, it is also clarified that only NEET would enable students to get admission to MBBS or BDS studies," it had said.