The Supreme Court on Monday stayed the Madras High Court’s interim order, which had stopped the declaration of NEET exam results-the entrance exam for admission of all BDS and MBBS courses in the country, PTI reported.
#SC stays Madras HC interim order restraining publication of results of #NEET2017 for admission to MBBS and BDS courses.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) June 12, 2017
Permitting the board to declare the results and go ahead with consequential steps including counselling and admissions, the vacation bench of Justice Prafulla C Pant and Justice Deepak Gupta said that no High Court across the country would entertain any plea relating to the NEET 2017.
Staying the May 24 order of the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court, Justice Pant observed: "The High Court shouldn't have easily and liberally interfered with the schedule".
Monday’s development will allow the CBSE to declare results of for 11 lakh students who appeared for NEET this year. The apex court also asked High Courts not to entertain petitions on NEET 2017 exams. The exams were held on May 7.
States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Union Territory of Puducherry and the Karnataka Private Medical Colleges Association had earlier filed applications in the Supreme Court opposing the unified entrance exam.
On May 24, the Madurai bench of the Madras HC had passed the interim order following multiple petitions which alleged that the questions for English and Tamil medium were of varying difficulty.
On June 10, Justice N Kirubakaran sought replies to 12 questions from the CBSE, Medical Council of India and other government authorities saying only few students living in urban areas would benefit from the new model of examinations.
“Though the nationwide single common entrance examination for admission into medical colleges is appropriate, there are many difficulties faced by students who are undergoing the studies under various systems (state board, central board, Anglo-Indian syllabus and ICSE)," the Madras High Court judge said.
The idea of NEET has been contested since its inception by various state governments especially the Tamil Nadu government.
Late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had strongly objected to the single national-level examination for medical courses citing it would “put rural students at a disadvantage because they lack resources to stand at an equal playing field as their economically advantaged peers. .
The TN government also claimed that it would also overlap the state's autonomy and right to regulate the admission policies to medical educational institutions.
CM Edappadi K Palaniswami had last month urged the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to approve the state's Bills seeking exemption from National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for state government seat quota. States of Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Union Territory of Puducherry and the Karnataka Private Medical Colleges Association had earlier filed applications in the Supreme Court opposing the unified entrance exam.