Plea filed in SC for NEET-UG centre in Gulf and Middle East countries

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Wednesday seeking a direction to the National Testing Agency and the Medical Council of India to conduct NEET-UG 2020 examinations in centres across the Middle East and other gulf countries.

Petitioner Abdul Azeez questioned the validity of the Kerala High Court's order of Tuesday, June 30, dismissing the plea, saying the students studying abroad would be adversely affected by the decision.

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The central government's decision to conduct the NEET-UG 2020 examination on July 26 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic was a risky decision with the future of expatriate students. The NTA, which provided examination centres abroad for the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) for an engineering course, ought to provide centres for conducting NEET-UG 2020 as well, his plea stated.

Refusal to allot examination centres abroad for NEET-UG 2020 was "arbitrary" and would cause "severe mental stress" to students preparing for it for years, the plea contended.

The High Court had said the NTA and MCI, being expert bodies, could only decide about the matter and it could not issue any such direction in view of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a special leave petition, the petitioner contended the right of students to education was being jeopardised by the state action as they were being unfairly discriminated only on the ground that they had studied abroad.

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It said the High Court should have considered the future of the students in light of the current extraordinary situation and directed the NTA or the MCI to sanction exam centres in the Middle East and other Gulf Countries.

It also claimed that the High Court erred egregiously in not setting aside the decision of the NTA and the MCI to conduct NEET-UG until the normalcy was restored.