SC dismisses review petition by six states on NEET, JEE
Sep 04, 2020
New Delhi [India], September 4 : The Supreme Court on Friday refused to entertain a petition filed by ministers from six states, seeking a review of the Apex Court's August 17 order allowing the holding of NEET-UG and JEE (Mains).
The Apex Court noted that there is no merit in the petitions.
The Apex Court passed the order of dismissing this bunch of petitions, after an in-chamber hearing which started at around 1.30 pm today.
A Bench of the Apex Court, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan today dismissed these petitions, after not finding any merit in them.
Ministers from six opposition-ruled states had moved the Supreme Court on August 28, seeking a review of its August 17 order in which the Central government was permitted to conduct the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) and Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) in September 2020.
The petition has been moved by ministers from West Bengal, Jharkhand, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Punjab and Maharashtra through lawyer Sunil Fernandes.
While the main petitioner is West Bengal Labour Minister Moloy Ghatak, other petitioners include Jharkhand Finance Minister Dr Rameshwar Oraon, Rajasthan Health Minister Dr Raghu Sharma, Chhattisgarh Planning Minister Amarjeet Bhagat, Punjab Heath Minister Balbir Singh Sidhu and Maharashtra Higher and Technical Education Minister Uday Ravindra Samant.
Several opposition parties had opposed holding the NEET and JEE amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and decided to approach the Supreme Court against its verdict. Notably, several protests were also held against conducting the exams.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had earlier this week said that opposition ruled states such as Maharashtra, Punjab, West Bengal, Jharkhand should collectively approach the Supreme Court for deferring NEET, JEE Main.
The Supreme Court had on August 17 dismissed a petition seeking the postponement of the NEET and JEE scheduled to be held in September 2020 observing that the career of students cannot be put under jeopardy for long.
The National Testing Agency, during the hearing, had submitted that all the safeguards will be taken while holding the exam.
