High Court dismisses plea against postponement of NEET

The High Court has dismissed a PIL challenging the postponement of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) beyond August 31, 2021.

A division bench, headed by Justice B V Nagarathna, said that the decision of the Union government to hold the test after August 31, 2021, cannot be faulted as it would have been on the basis of the opinion of experts and on sound discretion being exercised by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.

The petition is filed by G B Kulkarni Memorial Legal Trust, represented by its president Dr Vinod G Kulkarni. The petition sought for a direction to the concerned not to postpone the exam for a further period of four months from the earlier stipulated date of April 8.

“We find that the postponement of NEET was on account of the circumstances as they emerged and based on the views of the experts. This is not a case where there is cancellation of NEET this year. It is only a case of postponement of the test from April 2021 to a period “second wave” of the Covid-19 pandemic and the need to enlist the services of doctors for duties so as to manage the medical facilities and attend to the patients suffering from the disease,” the bench said.