Delhi High Court dismisses plea seeking postponement of NEET-UG 2022
The High Court while dismissing the plea refused to accept the submissions that the exam was postponed for the last two years and held that it was all the more reason for the authorities to stick to a schedule.
The Delhi High Court today dismissed a plea seeking postponement of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test-Undergraduate (NEET-UG) exam scheduled to be held on July 17.
Several medical aspirants had approached the High Court seeking directions to the Centre, National Testing Agency (NTA), and others to postpone the NEET-UG exam.
"Direct the respondents to conduct NEET-UG 2022 phase 2 for the academic session 2022, taking into account the huge distance of examination centre, which ranges between 150km to 300km for a thousand students during the current grave situation caused by floods across the nation," the petition stated.
The plea further stated that last year's exam was held on September 12 and the results were announced on November 1, and this year's exam notification was released on April 6, approximately 100 days before the exam, causing stress and anxiety among students.
A single judge bench of Justice Sanjeev Narula while dismissing the plea, observed that the petition was totally misconceived.
"Just because students have approached us, we cannot be harsh. If it were someone else, we would dismiss it with costs", he remarked.
Referring to the petitioner's submission that floods have made it difficult for them to commute, Court said,
"Floods can occur during monsoons, that cannot be a reason for postponement. Something or the other keeps happening in our country."
Counsel for NTA also informed the court that 18 lakh students were appearing for the test and postponement would lead to a havoc.
"Even if we delay by one day, a havoc would be created. The need of patients should also be considered...", the counsel for NTA said.
While dismissing the petition, the High Court also refused to comply with the petitioner's request to keep the plea pending.
Advocate Mamta Shamra appeared for the petitioner whereas Advocates Sanjay Khanna, T. Singhdev and Abhijit Chakravarty appeared for the respondents.
Case Title: VISHWANATH KUMAR & ORS. Vs. NATIONAL TESTING AGENCY & ORS.