NEET & Medical Admissions Counselling : Supreme Court Interventions In 2021

2021 was a year where a lot of writ petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking various reliefs with regard to the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test(NEET) and counselling process for medical courses across the country. Let's have a look at how the Top Court dealt with them.DECIDED ISSUES :Centre Defers NEET-SS Exam Pattern Changes To 2022-2023 After Supreme Court RapFaced with harsh criticism from the Supreme Court over the eleventh-hour changes brought to the NEET-SS 2021 pattern, the Central Government on October 6, 2021 in a petition ( Prateek Rastogi and Others v. National Board of Examination and Others) challenging the changes made to NEET-SS 2021 pattern had told the Court that the revised pattern will be implemented only from next year. The bench of Justices DY Chandrachud, Vikram Nath and BV Nagarathna had disposed of the plea after recording Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati's submission that the modified pattern would be given effect only from the academic year 2022-2023.Supreme Court Refuses To Defer NEET-UG 2021 On Plea Filed By CBSE Private, Compartment, Patrachar StudentsIn Sanjana & Ors vs National Testing Agency & Ors, the Supreme Court had refused to entertain a petition filed by a group of students taking the CBSE Private, Patrachar and Compartment exams for Class 12 seeking to defer the NEET-UG 2021 exam, which is scheduled to start from September 12.A Bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar, Hrishikesh Roy and CT Ravikumar orally said that the Court cannot meddle with the examination schedule citing the inconvenience of a section of students.NEET Admissions: Supreme Court Allows "All Similarly Situated" OCI Candidates To Participate In General Category Counselling For 2021-22In a batch of writ petitions, filed by OCI candidates challenging a notification issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs to treat them at par with Non-Resident Indians(NRIs) for the purpose of college admissions, the Supreme Court on November 8, 2021 allowed all eligible Overseas Citizens of India(OCI) candidates to participate in general category in the NEET counselling for undergraduate and postgraduate medical courses for the academic year 2021-22.A bench comprising Justices S Abdul Nazeer and Krishna Murari stated in the order that the applicants before the court and "other similarly situated candidates" are granted the relief for the academic year 2021-22.Also Read: NEET-UG : Supreme Court Permits OCI Candidates To Appear For Counselling In General Category For 2021-22; Says 'They Are Indian Origin; Not Outsiders'NEET-UG : Supreme Paves Way For Results Declaration By Staying HC Order For Re-Test To 2 StudentsStaying the recent Bombay High Court order which had directed the National Testing Agency to hold fresh exam for two NEET UG aspirants, the Supreme Court in special leave petition filed by the National Testing Agency on October 28, 2021 had paved the way for declaration of the results of the NEET-UG 2021.While the bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Sanjiv Khanna and BR Gavai had issued notice in the SLP, the bench had said that it would see what would be done for the two students, who were prejudiced due to the mix up of the answer sheets done by the invigilator of the exam hall.Later on November 12, the bench, while remarking that it sympathized with the plight of the two students, it was difficult to order a re-test for the two students, had set aside the High Court's order.Supreme Court Quashes Madras HC Direction That EWS Reservation In NEET-AIQ Requires SC Constitution Bench ApprovalThe Supreme Court in Union of India v. Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and others had set-aside the observations in the Madras High Court's order which said that the reservation for Economically Weaker Sections(EWS) in the NEET-All India Quota can be implemented only with the approval of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court that is examining the correctness of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment which provided for economic reservations.A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and BV Nagarathna held that the Madras High Court's observations were unnecessary. The bench said that the Madras High Court was considering a contempt petition seeking implementation of OBC reservation in NEET-AIQ, and hence the observations on 10% EWS quota amounted to a transgression of its jurisdiction.NEET-PG : Supreme Court Asks Petitioners Seeking 1:5 Seat To Candidate Ratio In Counselling To Approach High CourtIn Srijani Roy v. Medical Counselling Committee (MCC), the Supreme Court on December 13, 2021 refused to entertain a writ petition filed seeking directions to the Medical Counselling Committee to follow 1:5 seat to candidate ratio in NEET PG admissions, as directed by the Supreme Court in Anand S Biji vs State of Kerala decision. A bench comprising Justice DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna had suggested that the petitioners move the concerned High Court.NEET-UG : Supreme Court Dismisses Students' Plea Alleging Error In ...

NEET & Medical Admissions Counselling : Supreme Court Interventions In 2021

Shruti Kakkar

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