NEET JEE 2020: Supreme Court rejects plea for shelving the exams
The Supreme Court has dismissed the plea of 6 non –BJP state governments which sought for the postponement of NEET and JEE exams 2020.
The Supreme Court on Friday 4th September dismissed the petitions filed by six ministers of opposition ruled states which challenged the August 17 orders looking for the postponement of NEET and JEE examinations 2020, giving a nod to the NEET JEE examinations this year. The apex court refused to review the August 17 orders which allowed the National Testing Agency to conduct the NEET and JEE examinations this year 2020 among the current coronavirus pandemic.
The panel of judges including Justices Ashok Bhushan, BR Gavai, and Krishna Murari said that “No case is made out for reconsidering our earlier decision”. The review petition was filed by Moloy Ghatak (West Bengal), Rameshwar Oraon (Jharkhand), Raghu Sharma (Rajasthan), Amarjeet Bhagat (Chhattisgarh), BS Sidhu (Punjab), and Uday Ravindra Sawant (Maharashtra) ,they insisted that deferring the NEET (UG) and JEE Examinations would be a major risk to the health of the participating children and may cause increase in the number of infections and deaths.
Other leaders including Mamta Banerjee, MK Stalin and Rahul Gandhi also opposed the NEET and JEE exams being held in the middle of the corona pandemic.
The Joint Entrance Exam (JEE) which was earlier shelved twice due to the COVID-19 pandemic has now started from 1st September and will continue till 6th September with over 8.58 lakh students registering for the exams. However 15.97 lakh students have registered for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test NEET 2020.
The National Testing Agency has taken multiple steps to ensure the safe and smooth conduct of the examination which involves increasing number of Examination Centres, alternate seating plans per room, staggered entry and exit.