The Supreme Court on Monday declined to pass a direction to Centre to hold National Eligibility Cum Entrance Test (NEET) Undergraduate (UG) 2020 at examination centres in Gulf countries. The top court told the government said that students from abroad who wish to sit for the national eligibility test for medical and dental courses should be accommodated in the “Vande Bharat” mission flights.
From next year, the exam can be held online to bypass the accessibility issues, the court suggested to the Medical Council of India. It said, “If the Joint Entrance Exam can be held online then you should consider NEET also to be held in an online form from next year”.
The order was passed by the Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupt and S Ravindra Bhat.
The bench said that the quarantine norms are mandatory for students who would come from the Middle East countries to give exam but allowed petitioners to approach State authorities to seek relaxation.
The court asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to speak to ministries concerned to ensure aspirants from the Middle East are permitted to return to India in Vande Bharat Mission flights.
Earlier this month, the court had dismissed a petition to postpone the crucial Joint Entrance main exam and the NEET — scheduled for September — in view of the coronavirus outbreak.
Recently, the Medical Council of India has told the apex court that postponement of the NEET UG 2020 examination of this year any further shall be a “drastic deviation” from the academic schedule which may affect the subsequent academic years of the students.
The MCI, in an affidavit, had said plea for overseas examination centres for NEET (UG) does not deserve indulgence from the top court in view of the fact that the Government of India has permitted travel to and from other countries, through Vande Bharat Mission.